I would like to welcome you here at the ElysР№e Palace and to thank you for coming. We are meeting today in order to discuss NEPAD. I would like to start by telling you why I have wanted to convene this meeting and then I will share with you some thoughts on the work we are going to do together.
At a time when we are seeing an unacceptable decline in international aid and a widening gap with the rest of the world, a new approach to Africa’s development is emerging. This approach is arousing high hopes. From the political concept of the African Renaissance, followed by the initial versions of the Millennium Africa Plan (MAP) - the initiative of Presidents Mbeki, Bouteflika, Obasanjo, with which President Moubarak associated himself - and the OMEGA Plan - prepared by President Abdoulaye Wade - we came, through gestation and the merger of the MAP and OMEGA Plans, to the New African Initiative (NAI) adopted by the Lusaka OAU Summit in June 2001. It was renamed the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) last October in Abuja.
As far as I am concerned, and on France’s behalf, I hailed this initiative at the Yaounde France/Africa Summit in January 2001 and called for it to become a reference. It was an answer to the trust in Africa’s future, which I have always defended and to repeated calls aimed at supporting, through financial programmes, Africa’s efforts in favour of peace and progress on the continent.
At the Genoa G8 Summit in July 2001, following the very convincing presentation made by President Wade on behalf of his African counterparts, the G8 countries committed themselves to supporting the new partnership proposed by Africa. They decided then that they would give concrete answers within the framework of their meeting in June 2002 in Kananaskis, Canada, based on the proposals made by the High Representatives, especially appointed by the Heads of G8 countries, to this end. Michel Camdessus, who is here today with us, has been appointed for France.
Since then, things have progressed. A mechanism has been implemented, with steering and co-ordination structures, and committees have been set up to examine the various fields covered by NEPAD. The G8 representatives participated in working meetings organised to this end.
Since we are now halfway between the Genoa G8 Summit and the G8 Summit in Canada in June, the time has come to assess orientations, in order to prop up or modify the proposals which will be presented in Kananaskis and which will constitute the starting point of this new partnership. Such is the objective of our informal meeting today. Other G8 members have also had similar consultations. With a view to informing all members of our work, I asked my friend the Prime Minister of Canada, Jean ChrР№tien, who is the current G8 chairman, to be represented here today by his adviser in this field, Ambassador Fowler. The British Prime Minister also expressed the same wish and will be represented by Baroness Amos.
Before giving the floor to Michel Camdessus who is going to share with us the first thoughts of the High representatives, I would like to speak about issues which we could debate, while each one of you can, of course, broach other issues of interest.
The first issue I wanted to talk about is the will by African countries to appropriate the notions of good governance, civil peace and democracy. This is one of the new aspects to be found in NEPAD. It is also one of the most promising. It highlights the will by Africans to be committed to the strengthening of the values, principles and rules needed by Africa because they are acknowledged as keys to stability, without which there can be no lasting development. We shall take into consideration the responses planned by your governments in order to promote peace, democracy and good governance, as well as those aimed at sanctioning deviations, as the OAU has already done it.
The questions therefore are as follows:
- How can clear and objective signs on the respect for or the breach of principles on which African countries'’ commitments are based be given to Africa'’ partners?
- How can criticism on the misuse or inefficiency of international aid be defused since this criticism can lead to a reduction in aid?
The second issue deals with institutional aspects:
- How is NEPAD going to work?
- How is this partnership going to be materialised?
- How is NEPAD going to be integrated into the new African Unity?
- How is NEPAD taking into account the diversity of situations?
- How can NEPAD operate at the continental level?
- Is it not better to privilege the regional level?
The third issue is:
- How is NEPAD going to articulate with the other mechanisms and organisations supporting Africa’s development?
- What will NEPAD’s effects be on the relations with international financial bodies?
- How will it interact with initiatives such as those concerning external debt or preferential tariffs granted to the least advanced countries?
- How can NEPAD be harmonised with the agreements signed with the European Union, the Cotonou Convention which includes a political consultation mechanism and the process of dialogue between Europe and Africa initiated at the Cairo Summit?
Even without thoroughly examining these issues, it is necessary to have a vision highlighting all the advantages of NEPAD in order to give, as we all wish, more consistency and efficiency, as well as more means, to the actions which have already been undertaken.
The last issue will be the operational aspects of NEPAD aimed at helping materialise its fundamental objective which is to enable Africa to catch up economically in order to be better integrated into the global economy, to uplift the people’s living conditions and to trigger a lasting development. Priorities have already been established: infrastructures, agriculture, water, energy, modernity, new technologies, human development, training, education, the protection of the environment and, of course, health care. Ad hoc technical committees have been set up in order to make studies and assessments, and to formalise projects while taking into account the regional dimension.
The reasons for the shaping of NEPAD are clear to understand: NEPAD is a response aimed at catching up and filling in gaps. All fields are covered in the progress wanted by NEPAD. Expectations are very high. African people want to have rapid and visible spin-offs. It is therefore essential to clearly define priorities. What are the latter? How can the G8 help? Is it, for example, by recommending actions and efforts that concentrate on priority issues?
Another important aspect of NEPAD, and this is clearly underlined in NEPAD, is the necessary involvement of the private sector. In return, African governments must commit themselves to transparency in order for companies to work well in a climate conducive to the development of private investment. What axes of efforts must be privileged and how can the G8 support them?
These are some of the questions that could be debated this morning. I hope that the responses which will be brought will be powerful reasons for going ahead by removing obstacles and highlighting the strengths of this mutual agreement aimed at supporting the necessary development for the XXIst century.
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