DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS ASSEMBLY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA DEPENDS MAINLY ON SELF-HELP MEASURES

20 November 1998

Press Release
DSG/SM/32
OBV/75

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TELLS ASSEMBLY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA DEPENDS MAINLY ON SELF-HELP MEASURES

19981120 Address on 'Africa Industrialization Day, 1998' Stresses Role Of Private Sector, with Government Help and International Support

This is the text of an address to the General Assembly today by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette on the occasion of Africa Industrialization Day:

I am very pleased to join you today to mark Africa Industrialization Day 1998. In the past year the United Nations has sought to renew our thinking and our efforts towards Africa's development. In particular, the Secretary-General offered a candid and comprehensive report on Africa conflicts and how they may be prevented in the future.

In the report, the Secretary-General emphasized that all efforts at securing peace had to be combined with steps towards ending Africa's poverty. Specifically, he called for the promotion of investment and economic growth, of ensuring adequate levels of international aid, of reducing debt burdens and opening international markets to Africa's products.

I am, therefore, particularly pleased that the theme of this year's Africa Industrialization Day is "Poverty Alleviation Through Industrialization". There is already a wide consensus that the occasional good harvest and rising commodity prices are not sufficient to sustain economic recovery and growth.

The development of the manufacturing sector as principal engine of economic growth and employment generation is pivotal to ensuring stability, peace and prosperity of nations. Without a doubt, the ability of the African private sector to take advantage of the opportunities offered by globalization and liberalization will determine the prospects for overall development.

The mid-1990s may have marked a turning point for the economies of Sub- Saharan Africa. After two decades of marginalization, during which the region

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lost market share in global trade and in foreign direct investment, Sub- Saharan Africa began to recover in 1994/95.

Credit for this promising upturn should go to the people of Africa who have endured much hardship in order to introduce stabilization measures, structural reforms and liberalized markets. We in the United Nations system have also played our role in supporting the efforts of our African partners in this endeavour.

However, this year's commemoration of Africa Industrialization Day takes place at a critical juncture in the global economy. The impact on Africa and the least developed countries could be severe if a global recession results in a further fall in commodity prices. I will, myself, continue to alert the international community to this danger and further engage the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and our major donors in the effort to contain the crisis.

While, ultimately, competitiveness arises at the enterprise level, the past year has taught us all that the role of the State is of critical importance. Four elements critical to competitiveness -- namely infrastructure, governance, skills and technology -- are dependent on the State working in partnership with the private sector. If the State fails to maintain law and order, to guarantee the security of individuals and investments, to protect intellectual property rights, to build and maintain an efficient infrastructure, to provide adequate education and health systems, enterprise-level competitiveness will be undermined.

Let me close by emphasizing that African nations must take the lead in promoting private sector-led industrial transformation. We in the international community, and the United Nations system in particular, will continue to play our catalytic role. But ultimately, only Africa's own initiative and imagination will make the difference between poverty and prosperity. Only Africa's own determination to end the conflicts that still plague many of its peoples can make the difference between lasting stability and endless suffering.

Africa must create -- through good governance, the rejection of violence and the embrace of free, legitimate government -- the enabling environments for investment and economic growth. Then -- but only then -- can lasting prosperity and peace follow for all its people.

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