ANC Today --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 2, No. 26, 28 June - 4 July 2002 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Letter from the President: Africa redefines its relations with the world * Letsema Africa Month: South Africans in action and dialogue to build the continent * NEPAD Series I: Achieving peace, democracy and good governance --------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Africa redefines its relations with the world Just over 115 years ago, in 1885, the European powers met in Berlin to decide the future of the African continent. At that conference they decided that they would share Africa among themselves, transforming ours into a dependent people on a permanent basis. Those who were the subject of discussions in Berlin were not there to present their own point of view about themselves and their lands. Nevertheless, they were to feel the full weight of the decisions of the Berlin Conference. Thus they became a colonised people. Their lands and their wealth became freely available for exploitation by the colonisers, for the exclusive benefit of the colonisers. The sole task the foreign owner delegated to the indigenous people was loyally and totally to serve the foreign owner. The Berlin Conference decreed a particular partnership between Europe and Africa, a partnership of masters and servants. This week an important meeting took place in Kananaskis in Canada. It was attended by the European powers, the United States, Japan, the United Nations and other international organisations, to discuss the future of Africa. But unlike the Berlin Conference, the Africans themselves also attended the Kananaskis Conference. This time, it would not be possible for anybody to decide for the Africans. Any decisions would be taken with the Africans. The Kananaskis Conference met to discuss the implementation of a programme conceived and elaborated by the Africans themselves. It met to agree on what needed to be done practically to mobilise Africa' resources to serve the interests of the peoples of Africa. It convened to agree on the specific measures needed to eradicate the legacy bestowed on Africa as a result of the decisions of the Berlin Conference. It convened to decide on the things that had to be done to give birth to a new partnership of equals between Africa and the developed world, based on the concept of human solidarity. For these reasons, the Kananaskis Conference will go down in history as a defining moment in the process both of the evolution of Africa and the birth of a more equitable system of international relations. In historical terms, it signified the end of the epoch of colonialism and neo-colonialism. This is underlined by the fact that at the Kananaskis Conference, the decision of the developed world to enter into a new partnership with Africa was expressed in concrete form with the identification of over 100 specific projects or actions in an Africa Action Plan, described as the initial response of the developed world to Africa' own plan, NEPAD. These cover the priority areas identified in NEPAD, including: * peace and security; * governance and institutional capacity; * trade, investment, economic growth and sustainable development; * infrastructure; * agriculture; * water; * debt relief; * education and human resource development; * health; and * information and communication technology. Explaining their own positions, the G8 and the EU made the following important statement: "We welcome the initiative taken by African States in adopting the New Partnership for Africa' Development (NEPAD), a bold and clear-sighted vision of Africa' development. We accept the invitation from African Leaders, extended first at Genoa last July and reaffirmed in the NEPAD, to build a new partnership between the countries of Africa and our own, based on mutual responsibility and respect. The NEPAD provides an historic opportunity to overcome obstacles to development in Africa. Our Africa Action Plan is the G8' initial response. The case for action is compelling." The historic importance of the Kananaskis Conference derives not only from the redefinition of the relations between Africa and the developed world. It also consists in the fact that Africa was able to enter into this new partnership because her peoples had, in the first instance, decided to enter into a new partnership among themselves. In drawing up NEPAD, the peoples of Africa decided to rely on their combined resources to overcome the scourges of poverty and underdevelopment. Without the partnership among the Africans, the partnership between Africa and the rest of the world would have been impossible. Thus, at Kananaskis, the peoples of Africa reaffirmed their commitment to take their destiny into their own hands, practically. In their Africa Action Plan, the developed countries make the following correct observation: "(NEPAD) is first and foremost, a pledge by African Leaders to the people of Africa to consolidate democracy and sound economic management, and to promote peace, security and people-centred development. They have formally undertaken to hold each other accountable for its achievement. They have emphasised good governance and human rights as necessary preconditions for Africa' recovery. They focus on investment-driven economic growth and economic governance as the engine for poverty reduction, and on the importance of regional and sub-regional partnerships within Africa." It is in the implementation of these commitments that our Continent will demonstrate that it has indeed taken the decision to determine its own future. It will show in practice, that it is no longer willing to tolerate the perpetuation of a neo-colonial order, which has continued to deny many of our peoples the possibility truly to exercise their right to self-determination. The NEPAD document adopted at the 2001 Lusaka OAU Summit Meeting of Heads of State and Government said: "Across the continent, Africans declare that we will no longer allow ourselves to be conditioned by circumstance. We will determine our own destiny and call on the rest of the world to complement our efforts. There are already signs of progress and hope. "Democratic regimes that are committed to the protection of human rights, people-centred development and market-oriented economies are on the increase. African peoples have begun to demonstrate their refusal to accept poor economic and political leadership. These developments are however uneven and inadequate and need to be further expedited. "The New Partnership for Africa' Development is about consolidating and accelerating these gains. It is a call for a new relationship of partnership between Africa and the international community, especially the highly industrialised countries, to overcome the development chasm that has widened over centuries of unequal relations." Kananaskis represents what one of the G8 leaders correctly characterised as "a new departure that puts the relationship between Africa and the developed world on the right footing and provides the route map that should inform our future national and international engagements." With regard to our engagement with the G8 and the EU, as well as the Nordic countries, the next step we must now take is to work together, as a matter of urgency, to translate the Africa Action Plan into specific, implementable projects covering all the areas mentioned in the Plan. This will require the active and detailed involvement of the African regional organisations, such as ECOWAS, COMESA and SADC. This will also involve such institutions as the African Development Bank (ADB) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). On all of these will fall the responsibility to engage all our countries in an inclusive process that ensures that the specific projects we elaborate address agreed development objectives, within agreed time frames. This must include commitment of our own resources for the success of these projects, as we cannot depend merely on resources provided by our development partners. It is also important that we approach this work with the necessary urgency. It must be our aim that we do not allow for any situation that in any way suggests that we can postpone to another day our response to the challenge of defeating poverty and underdevelopment on our continent. Where we face the constraint of capacity with regard to the discharge of this task, we will have to move speedily to identify such constraints and to address them. However, we cannot avoid the reality that we will have to allocate the necessary human resources to ensure that we translate the Africa Action Plan into reality. We must also make the point that the G8 Africa Action Plan does not replace the overall development programme we had ourselves decided upon. What it does is to identify those priority areas on which the G8 is ready to act, as part of its initial response. We welcomed this initial response as the beginning of a new departure. Accordingly, as we work to translate this new departure into reality, we must also work to implement all other elements of our programme that may not necessarily be contained in the Africa Action Plan. Again, this will add to the pressure on us to devote the necessary resources to ensure that we move forward with regard to all the NEPAD priority areas that have already been agreed. Soon after the conclusion of the G8 Summit, the Government of Canada issued a statement entitled "Canada helps build new partnerships with Africa". Among other things, this statement said: "Prime Minister Jean Chretien today announced initiatives that Canada will take to support Africa' development. Today' announcements represent a commitment of $6 billion in new and existing resources over five years to Africa' development." This was a concrete statement by one member of the G8 of the meaning of the Africa Action Plan to which we must respond positively. The time to act firmly to secure a better life for the millions on our continent who suffer from poverty and underdevelopment is now. Thabo Mbeki --------------------------------------------------------------------- LETSEMA AFRICA MONTH South Africans in action and dialogue to build the continent July is Africa month. Beginning today, 28 June, ambassadors of African countries gather ahead of the last meeting of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the inaugural summit of the African Union (AU) in Durban from 8-10 July. This follows a meeting this week in Canada of G8 leaders at which the New Partnership for Africa' Development (NEPAD) was presented. The leaders of the G8 countries adopted an action plan at the meeting, "designed to encourage the imaginative effort that underlies the NEPAD and to lay a solid foundation for future cooperation". A meeting of African parliamentarians also took place this week in the National Assembly in Cape Town. Delegations from each African Parliament, as well as the heads of regional parliaments and parliamentary forums, were invited to attend. The meeting discussed the African Union, NEPAD and the planned Pan African Parliament. The ANC has declared July the month of African and International Solidarity as part of the Letsema Campaign of voluntary service marking the 90th anniversary of the organisation. This campaign aims to raise awareness and public discussion of the African Union and NEPAD, as well as organise practical actions in support of African peace, solidarity and development. The ANC Youth League will be hosting a meeting of the Pan Africa Youth Movement from 28-30 June in South Africa. Attended by around 200 people, the meeting is expected to produce a declaration, which will be taken the Continental Civil Society Forum starting on 1 July. This forum is expected to contribute and develop a participation model for the civil society in both the to the NEPAD and AU processes. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is hosting a meeting of unions in Africa from 30 June-2 July also to focus on NEPAD and the AU. The AU, which will be launched as the successor to the OAU, will aim to speed up the political, social and economic development of the African continent. The theme for the AU Summit is: 'Peace, Development and Prosperity: The African Century', which is derived from the Constitutive Act of the AU. During this period ANC structures will mobilise communities, institutions and civil society groups to work for peace, stability, democracy and development in Africa. They will mobilise for African unity and closer cooperation and integration among the states of Africa. To this end, ANC branches will hold public meetings that discuss the objectives and content of the African Renaissance, NEPAD and the African Union. The campaign will seek to establish relations with people from other African countries, and tackle the manifestations of xenophobia in South African society. It will involve people from other countries within a campaign of solidarity, and promote people-to-people cultural and other exchange programmes. Branches will identify agencies that collect food, clothing and medicines for distribution in other African countries where there are conflicts and wars - as well as make use of ANC offices for the collection of such supplies. Structures will organise mass meetings, prayer services, marches and demonstrations in solidarity with liberation struggles in Africa and further abroad. These will include actions in support of self-determination for the people of Palestine and Western Sahara, and a call for an end to the blockade of Cuba. During July, ANC Today will pick up on key themes and events of the month, including a weekly focus on NEPAD, highlighting different aspects of the programme. This series of articles begins this week with a focus on the conditions for sustainable development in Africa. --------------------------------------------------------------------- NEPAD SERIES I Achieving peace, democracy and good governance Peace and security, democracy, human rights and sound economic management are necessary for the effective development and regeneration of Africa. The New Partnership for Africa' Development (NEPAD) has therefore identified a programme of initiatives collectively known as 'Conditions for Sustainable Development'. This constitutes one of the three main areas of the NEPAD programme. Progress in achieving these conditions will reinforce the specific social and economic initiatives, or 'Sectoral Priorities', which constitute the second main area. The third area of 'Mobilising resources' will provide the material injection required to drive these initiatives. Peace and security NEPAD aims to achieve peace and security in the long-term by addressing the social and political factors which contribute to instability and conflict. This involves improving governance and economic management, investment, access to markets and human development. In the immediate term, it aims to develop the ability of Africa' institutions to detect areas of potential conflict early and to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts. It will make use of existing regional and sub-regional institutions, like SADC, to prevent conflict, engage in peacekeeping operations, and combat the proliferation of arms. Democracy and good governance NEPAD notes that development is impossible without democracy, respect for human rights, peace and good governance. In the NEPAD document produced in October last year, African leaders undertake to respect the global standards of democracy, including political pluralism, allowing for the existence of several political parties and workers' unions, and regular fair, open, free and democratic elections. Countries participating in NEPAD will be required to make a series of commitments to meeting basic standards of good governance and democratic behaviour. Participating countries will also undertake to assist each other in this, including providing support where institutional reform is needed. Part of this initiative would be capacity-building measures to strengthen the civil services, improve parliamentary oversight, promote participatory decision-making, combat corruption, and undertake judicial reform. There will be a Heads of State Forum of participating countries which will monitor progress made by countries in meeting commitments to good governance and social reforms. Countries will be able to use this forum to share experiences of governance and democratic practice. Economic governance Many government' in Africa are not able to promote economic development or provide an environment conducive to investment due to a lack of capacity and inadequate policy and regulatory frameworks. Capacity building in the areas of economic management, public financial management and corporate governance will therefore be given high priority. A task force from ministries of finance and African central banks will review economic and corporate governance in participating countries and regions, and make recommendations on appropriate standards and codes of conduct. There will be a Heads of State Implementation Committee which will refer its recommendations to the respective countries. It will also be responsible for mobilising resources to enable countries to meet these standards. Regional integration Because many African countries are small, both in population and income, they offer limited markets to investors and little scope for economic diversity or growth. As the NEPAD document notes: "This limits investment in essential infrastructure that depends on economies of scale for viability". It argues that African countries therefore need to pool their resources and enhance regional development and economic integration to become more internationally competitive. The continent' five sub-regional economic groupings should therefore be strengthened. Projects which aim to provide essential 'public goods' - like transport, energy, water and telecommunication should be organised on a regional level. Trade and investment within Africa should also be promoted. Priority areas will include infrastructure, especially communications and energy; human resources, including education and skills development; health; agriculture; and access to the markets of developed countries for African exports. This programme acknowledges that economic growth and social development will not be possible or sustainable without some basic improvement in the way that African countries operate and cooperate with each other. This area of NEPAD provides a clear strategy to position African nations to more effectively make proper use of the benefits that will arise from the other two main areas of the NEPAD programme. More information: New Partnership for Africa' Development http://www.africainitiative.org G8 Africa Action Plan http://www.g8.gc.ca/kan_docs/afraction-e.asp --------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2002/at26.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html