March 15, 2000
Desmond Davies
PANA Correspondent
LONDON, UK (PANA) - UN secretary general Kofi Annan has cast aside the gloomy and stereotyped images long associated with Africa, saying positive images existing in the continent have not been credited.
He cited the emergency of democracy, the return of civilian rule to Nigeria, the smooth transition from the era of President Nelson Mandela to that of President Thabo Mbeki in South Africa and the resolution of conflicts in Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau and Niger as positive images.
On the economic front, Annan, said that positive changes were also taking place on the continent.
"At long last, the ubiquitous state-owned commodity marketing bodies, which used to cream off the earnings of the long-suffering African farmer, have made way for new arrangements that give the producer a fair price for his or her crops," he said Tuesday at the third annual Commonwealth lecture entitled 'Africa: Maintaining the Momentum.'
"Bloated and inefficient public-service structures are being reformed. Local government, long neglected and starved of resources, is gradually getting the attention it needs," Annan said.
He noted that more than 25 African countries have undertaken far-reaching structural economic reforms, including privatisation of loss-making state enterprises, and measures to eliminate distorted exchange rates and commodity prices.
"Stock exchanges, new modern communications facilities, and other signs of economic progress can be found in more and more African countries.
"This is the Africa we must have in mind when we talk of sustaining the momentum. The international community must reinforce such positive signals," Annan emphasised.
He, however, warned that Africa's "massive and unsustainable external debt was still restricting the continent's economic and social progress.
Annan also spoke out against the drop in the level and quality of official development assistance to Africa, although he suggested that Africans did not want to rely on external aid.
"Like anyone else in the world, they yearn for the self-respect which comes from earning your own living in a fair exchange of goods and services.
"In other words, they want to trade their way out of poverty and dependence. But African exports still face high tariffs in many sectors. If industrialised countries did more to open their markets, African countries could increase their exports by billions of dollars per year - far more than they now receive in aid," he said.
Annan later promised that the UN "will not rest until Africa is on a more secure path," adding: "And I personally will not relent until the recommendations of my report on the causes of conflict and promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, now almost two years old, are likewise being taken seriously by those with the power to implement them."