Sullivan launches Africa investment scheme

Spearheading an African American investment drive in Africa, the Rev. Leon Sullivan launched on Wednesday the "People's Investment for Development" fund, PANA reported. Sullivan signed a $US 2,000 cheque for the scheme, saying Africa no longer needed to depend on rich nations for development aid. "We do not have to beg anymore," he told the audience at the Africa/African American summit in Accra, Ghana. Sullivan, founder of the biennial summit which began in 1991, said the scheme was a modest beginning of better things to come. Participants immediately pledged $US 150,000 to the effort, which will support 1,000 new small-scale businesses in Africa. Annan says international business community can also help United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the summit that international big business could be an "important ally" of the UN in developing Africa's business sector, infrastructure and education, as well as tackling and social and other problems. "There are ample investment opportunities in Africa, provided that potential investors look beneath the surface," he said in his message, delivered by UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall. In what he said was renewed interest in Africa, he noted that the UN Security Council had held two ministerial-level meetings devoted to Africa and that UN agencies such as UNICEF, UNDP and UNHCR were active on the continent. In addition, Annan said, countries such as the United States have demonstrated their desire to help Africa, symbolised by President Bill Clinton's visit in 1998 and congressional consideration of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The African American community, Annan said, had been successful in raising the profile of African issues in the United States. "This summit in Accra is sustaining that momentum," he said.