PRESS CONFERENCE ON NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT

PRESS CONFERENCE ON NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA ’S DEVELOPMENT

Firmino Mucavele, Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon that NEPAD’s goal during the next 12 months was to accelerate the rate of implementation of its objectives, one of which was to lower the high transaction costs involved in intra-African trade.  Until now, countries in Africa had lacked the proper market, transportation and energy infrastructure to make trade feasible among themselves.

Asked to elaborate on how that would be achieved, he said the Partnership would evaluate the policies, norms and procedures of the five subregions which made up NEPAD.  Currently, tax regimes and customs procedures were not harmonized, raising the cost of goods by up to 500 per cent when they were transported over land.  The Partnership hoped to plan a system of roads, railways and ports with synchronized customs procedures.  The movement of goods through those special “corridors” would result in a 25 per cent increase in price, at most.

Another objective of NEPAD was to seek an agreement between members to devote 10 per cent of each country’s budget to agriculture, he stated.  If instituted, such a measure would “signal” the commitment of African countries to take the issue of food security into their own hands before seeking outside assistance.  Foreign aid would still feature in Africa’s development efforts, however.

He noted that a $1.2 billion agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was signed only two days ago, to be disbursed over a five-year period.  Some of that aid would go towards raising agricultural productivity, to be accomplished through improved irrigation and the development of Africa’s agro-industries, in general.  Meanwhile, part of the USAID funding would also go towards combating malaria, a disease which killed almost 1 million more people than HIV/AIDS.

Asked to comment on an announcement by President Hu Jintao of China during the World Summit that a $10 billion loan would be given to the least developed countries, Mr. Mucavele said he welcomed that decision.  He said that Africa and China enjoyed a good understanding with each other over agriculture, and he saw a potential for the loan’s use in cereal production, as well as for improving the technology and machinery used for farming.

A question then arose regarding President Hu’s position on the access of developing countries to the decision-making process, in particular, through an expansion of the Security Council to include more of those countries.  While not touching on the Security Council specifically, Mr. Mucavele said that Africans must learn to develop a common position before entering into multilateral negotiations, and that it should lead to a strengthening of Africa’s hand in trade negotiations or negotiations within institutions such as the United Nations. 

Also, he continued, developing country partners should be made to understand that Africa did not want to be passive, but wanted to be an active member of the development process.  “If Africa is not developed, then the world is not developed.  If we continue to have problems, Africans will be migrating to other regions looking for better conditions of life”, he said.  “The world must count on Africa to be part of global development.”

Answering a question on sub-Saharan Africa, he said the Millennium Development Goals would not be achieved in that region based on the current levels of investment and resources allocated to it.  While the means to alleviating poverty in that region did exist, they were not being used to the full.  In that vein, he said he was unhappy with the 2005 World Summit; ideally, he would have wanted more results.

He was also asked to comment on the cancellation of debt by the Group of Eight countries, and to describe how the resulting $25 billion would be used.  Mr. Mucavele replied that he was happy with the move, and that discussions would be undertaken regarding plans for the money’s use at the upcoming African Partnership Forum (APF), scheduled for October in the United Kingdom. 

That meeting would also be an opportunity for NEPAD to help prepare the continent for post-Summit meetings such as the World Trade Organization conference in December, he added.  Together with its APF partners, he hoped NEPAD member countries would discuss concrete methods for achieving goals in agriculture, health, education and access to water and sanitation.  In the area of agriculture, he said they would discuss negotiation strategies relating to the trade of cotton and sugar, specifically.

Replying to a question regarding the African Peer Review Mechanism instituted by NEPAD, he reported that two reviews -- that of Rwanda and Ghana -- had already been completed, with published reports available for the public.  Four more evaluations -- involving Nigeria, Mauritius, Kenya and Uganda -- would be completed in December.  Though the process was slow in the beginning, he said much had been learned through the experience.  He hoped that at least 14 more countries would be evaluated.

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