18 July 2006
Partnership Allows Africans to Plot Their Own Development
United States fully supports NEPAD framework, says official at Sullivan Summit
Abuja, Nigeria -- What is most important about the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is that it empowers Africans to formulate their own development vision and strategy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield said July 18.
Speaking at the Leon H. Sullivan VII Summit in Abuja, Thomas-Greenfield said that U.S. policy in Africa is built on two major pillars: support of good governance through democratic and fair elections and the promotion of economic growth and trade.
"We see NEPAD as supporting that vision in Africa, but what is more important about NEPAD, is that it puts Africans in the 'driver's seat.' They are the ones that develop the strategy, develop the vision and, with NEPAD, develop an integrated approach that will help them" solve their own economic and development problems in their own way, she said.
NEPAD is a strategic framework for Africa's development that arose from a mandate given to five African nations (Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa) by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and formally adopted at the organization’s 37th summit in July 2001. It seeks to eradicate poverty, stimulate sustainable development, halt the marginalization of Africa in the global economy, and accelerate the empowerment of women.
NEPAD helps countries like the United States fine tune their development approach toward Africa, said Thomas-Greenfield. "NEPAD is not viewed by us as an implementing agency or a recipient of aid. It is viewed as an organ that will lead African countries to … prominence" through greater economic development, she added.
Echoing Thomas-Greenfield's remarks on NEPAD was Abdelkader Messahel, Algeria's minister of cooperation, who stressed that NEPAD is built on a foundation of partnership.
Messahel, whose remarks were translated from French into English, said NEPAD is built on three distinct levels of partnership: national partnership that seeks to incorporate all the citizens in each African government; inter-African partnership that seeks to promote regional and sub-regional development projects such as roads; and international partnership with developed nations like the United States.
Africans, Messahel said, want to plot their own development strategies and NEPAD empowers them to do just that. Africans, he added, also want to promote unity, stability, democracy and good governance, which he identified as a major component of NEPAD.
He said more than 40 countries across Africa are embracing democratic forms of government and many of the same countries are now enjoying a 5 percent annual economic growth rate -- which he directly attributed to good governance.
"Africa has a future and potential to develop and that is why we have NEPAD, which is a synergistic approach to development," he told the delegates.
A third speaker on NEPAD, Nenadi Esther Usman, the Nigerian minister of finance, linked Africa's development to its ability to attract investment capital, in terms both of money and skilled people who are technologically savvy and who can develop growing private sector economies in African countries.
"This is the only vital way to create jobs and wealth, thereby helping us to fight poverty," Usman said. "The paucity of capital, technology and human skills has rendered Africa unable to effectively fight poverty and underdevelopment," she added.
Africa's challenge, continued Usman, is to raise the level of private investment to promote development, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, technology and human resources. "The growth of private enterprise can only be sustained if African countries encourage competition…and promote public-private partnerships," she said.
One key ingredient to economic growth, she said, is competition. For example, opening Nigeria's telecom sector to competition, she said, has greatly aided the country and helped fuel economic growth. In 2000 Nigeria only had 500,000 telephone numbers or lines. Today, said Usman, thanks to the liberalization of the telecom sector there are 16 million functioning telephone numbers and Nigerians enjoy excellent cell phone service.
But during the question and answer session, a Nigerian delegate pointed out that many Nigerians cannot afford to purchase more minutes on their phones.
"The government cannot buy recharge cards," for people, Usman told him. "The government can only create an enabling environment that allows people to work" so they can earn the money to recharge their telephones. She said it is the government's job "to shrink," and thus allow the private sector to flourish.
The Leon H. Sullivan VII Summit, which has as its theme "Africa: A Continent of Opportunities; Building Partnerships for Success" runs through July 20. (See related article.)
For information on U.S. policy, see U.S. Aid to Africa and Global Development and Foreign Aid.
Additional information about the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation and its past summits is available on the organization's Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
