List of African countries that the IMF has refused to assess and why

The main objectives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an international financial organization founded in 1944, are to support international monetary cooperation, stabilize exchange rates, enable balanced growth in international trade, supply resources to member nations in need of financial support, and support global economic stability.

To be able to effectively take on these responsibilities a great deal of information on member states needs to be collated, and some of the IMF’s data sets are a result of the organization’s Article IV consultations.

Article IV consultations or mandatory financial stability assessments is a protocol used to study the financial complexity of any given IMF member state.

According to the IMF, “Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies.”

Basically, the Article IV consultation is conducted to provide an in-depth analysis of a country’s economic situation, identify potential vulnerabilities, and offer policy advice to promote economic stability and growth.

This consultation typically happens annually. However, 12 member states of the IMF have been denied this consultation for up to 18 months. This is due to several reasons, some of which are supposedly outside of the IMF’s influence. For example, the completion date for Venezuela’s last consultation goes as far back as 2004, and this is owing to the country’s political insecurity.

The Article IV consultation typically entails a visit from an IMF team, and if the country is hostile, said team would be unable to visit.

With that said, below are the 4 African countries that have been denied an Article IV consultation by the IMF for at least 18 months now, and why.