Mandela on economic recovery initiative

The facilitator of the Burundi peace process, Nelson Mandela, on Wednesday told journalists in Johannesburg that he had already engaged several international countries to look at ways of reviving Burundi’s economy. He said that he had asked French President Jacques Chirac to call an international conference and invite donors to help transform the Burundi economy, the South African News Agency (SAPA) said. He has also requested ambassadors from Belgium, France and Germany to accept large numbers of young Burundians and train them in how to run the economy of their country. “This was one of the major plans that will revive Burundi’s economy,” he said. Mandela was speaking to journalists after he had held talks with representatives of three Tutsi parties who did not sign the Burundi peace accord on 28 August. They, however, agreed on Wednesday to sign the accord on 20 September in Nairobi. On Friday, a technical meeting of international donors to Burundi will be held in Brussels. It will be jointly chaired by a senior European Commission official, Francesca Mosca, and the Austrian Georg Lennkh, who heads the Arusha committee on reconstruction and development. The meeting will be attended by representatives from European Union member states, the United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Japan, the Red Cross. Minister of Foreign Affairs Severin Ntahomvukiye and President Pierre Buyoya’s top adviser Sebastien Ntahuga will represent Burundi.