AS the third Arab-African Summit opens today in Kuwait, Africa is pushing a
campaign to its international partners for the development of the continent.
The continent says it is no longer keen on aid as a means of development.
Instead, it wants investors to take advantage of the huge potential in the
region as a more much sustainable driver of economic growth. And this time
around, the leaders of the continent say they want to determine the sector
where such investments would be channelled.
Taking this position is the African Union Commission (AUC), which is leading
the continents participation at the summit. With the theme Partners in
development and investment, the summit will concentrate on action-oriented
programmes in the areas of health, energy, food security, investment,
education, among others.
And realising that governments across the continent have not done too well
in managing electricity utilities, the regional body is championing a
paradigm shift to the Public Private Partnership (PPP) module in the
provision of efficient electricity for its population.
At an investment symposium preparatory to Tuesdays meeting, Chief of Staff,
Bureau of the Chairperson at the AUC, Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Natama,
stressed how electricity was a key component of the new era of investment
drive for the region.
He said: Africa is not calling for aid. We are calling for investment in
the continent. We have natural resources; we are blessed with one-third of
the natural mineral resources in the world. We are blessed with one-third of
the energy potential in the world. We have 60 per cent of the arable land
available to date.
We are not calling for aid. Something may have gone wrong in the past in
terms of providing aid to the continent, especially when those providing the
aid are those who are trying to provide the priorities for the continent.
This time, we want to identify our priorities and call for investment in
these priorities. We have the resources. We dont want anybody to dictate to
us.
In an interview with The Guardian on the sidelines of the investment
symposium, Natama said the commission was leading a paradigm shift from
government-owned electricity utilities, to those run and operated jointly
with the private sector.
This electricity issue is very important to us at this time. We are calling
for investment in the area of energy, to make sure that this potential is
taken advantage of in providing the continent with the necessary electricity
capacity that we need, not only for us, but also for the rest of the world,
he noted.
He said a partnership with the private sector and government was one key way
of taking advantage of the continents huge solar, gas and water resources
for electricity generation.
His words: We are now moving towards a change of paradigm. In many African
countries now, we are building public private partnerships. This idea of
building partnerships between the private sector and government is
increasing. We do hope that in the next few years, we will be able to
achieve the condition of regime, real partnership between private sector and
public sector and also with the civil society organisation of the continent.
It should not be the responsibility of one stakeholder. It should involve
all the stakeholders, creating a synergy of action for the development of
the continent.
In a presentation earlier at the symposium, he stressed the need for the
continent to build on infrastructure gaps as a deliberate way to enhance
opportunities for investment, from the private sector and public-private
partnerships.
Private sector is essential and could mobilise financial resources, help
fill the gap towards sustainable infrastructure development, and above all,
promote a more inclusive growth that can be translated into effective
poverty reduction, he noted.
According to him, for Africa to attract investment and record solid growth
rates on a sustainable basis, appropriate macro-economic policies are being
formulated and implemented.
He went on: There is also proper economic government to ensure that
macro-economic fundamentals are right for economies to perform well.
Among other things, trade and financial markets have been liberalised in
many African countries, the number of days it takes to process business
permits and licences has been reduced, a number of state-owned entities have
been privatised to improve efficiency and competitiveness, and a number of
countries are investing more in infrastructure development. Issues relating
to controlling inflation, adopting appropriate exchange rate regimes,
setting optimal interest rates and management of other economic variables
have resulted in the adoption of appropriate fiscal and monetary policies in
many of the African countries. These measures have contributed to improved
competitiveness, high economic growth rates, and increased job creation.
Vice President Namadi Sambo arrived on Sunday and he was joined by about 43
leaders to attend the summit.
On why the focus would be on Africa, Chairman of DirectAid, a Kuwait-based
international development organisation, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Mohallan,
stressed that despite the perception that sub-Saharan Africa was a difficult
region to do business, there were actually several countries on the
continent where the risks of doing business were actually much lower than in
comparable parts of the world.
About 2,000 companies operating in the region have received over $214
billion. The World Bank is expecting an investment of $150 billion in 10
years time in infrastructure, he noted.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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