Canadian PM pushes governance message in Africa

By Diadie Ba

DAKAR, April 12 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien hammered
home the message on Friday that African leaders must keep their houses in
order if they expect foreign money for a revival plan.

Chretien was in Senegal on the last leg of an African tour ahead of a Group
of Eight summit that will look at how the world's most powerful nations can
help the poorest continent escape the margins of the global economy.

So-called peer pressure is a key element of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD), which aims to attract massive Western investment with
promises of democracy and good governance.

Chretien emphasised the importance of African leaders keeping an eye on each
others' respect for democracy and human rights when he met Senegal's
President Abdoulaye Wade and NEPAD coordinators in Dakar, officials said.

"To have more investment you need good governance, respect of human rights,
territorial discipline, peace and security openness and elimination of
corruption," Chretien told reporters at the end of his visit.

African leaders are to meet in Senegal's capital next week to discuss
proposals they will make to a summit of the G8 group of industrialised
nations and Russia in Canada in June.

The plan, the brainchild of the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal
and Algeria, estimates that Africa needs $64 billion a year of investment.

Chretien and other Western leaders have said they consider aid for Africa as
not just charity, but investment in global security to prevent failed states
that could become nests of crime and terrorism.

SEEKING COMMITMENT

But before coming up with cash for the latest scheme designed to
revolutionise Africa, they want to make sure of the commitment of leaders to
change a continent with a poor record on human rights, democracy and fighting
corruption.

Chretien has welcomed Nigerian and South African backing for Commonwealth
sanctions against Zimbabwe over President Robert Mugabe's re-election last
month -- widely condemned as fraudulent -- as a positive example of peer
pressure.

To try to solve another African crisis, Wade has invited Madagascar's rival
presidents to meet in Dakar next week to try to break an increasingly violent
deadlock on the island through talks on the margins of the NEPAD summit.

Wiseman Nkuhlu, chairman of NEPAD's steering committee, told reporters after
meeting Chretien on Friday that the Canadian prime minister had been
encouraged by the quality of leadership he had found during his visit.

"On his side he is committed to making sure that we get a positive response
(from the G8)," Nkuhlu said.

Chretien began his tour in Morocco last week and has also made stops in
Nigeria and South Africa.


   04/12/02 15:35 ET


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