Leaders pledge to address their own challenges

Working together, and with outside support, Africans will address their own problems and achieve lasting results. That was the message 22 of the continent’s leaders delivered to World Bank President James Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director Horst Kohler on an unprecedented joint visit to Africa in late February. “What’s new from this trip is that for the first time we have African leaders taking ownership of what they want to do in Africa,” said World Bank Vice-President for the Africa Region Callisto Madavo. The Director of the IMF’s Africa Department G E Gondwe said that governance, corruption and the impact of conflict on economic development were among the important issues that were discussed. “Instead of pointing fingers as to who is responsible and who should help, it was quite clear that there was an acceptance that these are problems that they themselves have to solve,” he said. The week-long trip, which included stops in Mali, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya, was a follow-up to Wolfensohn and Kohler’s commitment at the Prague 2000 Annual Meetings to put Africa at the centre of their institutions’ activities. Among the key African-led initiatives is the Millennium African Renaissance Plan (MAP). Developed by Presidents Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa at the request of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the G-77 and the Non-Aligned Movement, the plan seeks to address issues of economic growth, to encourage private investment and to spur development. Madavo said there was broad agreement on what needs to be done if Africa is to move forward: reduce poverty through sustained economic growth, combat HIV/AIDS, invest in people, strengthen governance, improve the investment climate, resolve conflicts and link African economies to the global economy. “The two heads of our institutions were very impressed by the determination of African leaders to write their own future and felt that, given that commitment, they should be advocates for Africa in terms of market access, official aid floors, continued efforts on debt relief, so that we can put together the resources that would enable the Africans to do what they told us they wanted to do,” Madavo said. Wolfensohn and Kohler agreed with the African leaders they recently met to come together in a year to review progress on the issues they discussed and to see how much is translated into action. “What is going to happen over the next 12 months? Are we going to see any real progress?” Madavo asked. “This is going to very much depend on the Africans, but we are quite willing to roll up our sleeves in the two organisations to assist Africa to make progress.”