MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

At The G-8 Summit

 Kanaskis, Canada, 27 June, 2002

It is with a deep sense of history and of the commitment that we African leaders have made to Africa and the African peoples that I respond on behalf of my colleagues and indeed all Africans to the G8 Africa Action Plan.

Let me thank our host, Prime Minister Chretien, the Canadian Government and the people of Calgary and Kananaskis, for the heart warming arrangements, facilities and hospitality that have been put at our disposal since our arrival. We have once more experienced what is now common knowledge to most of us, namely, that Canada has always been a friend of Africa, and indeed the developing world.

I would like to thank all the G8 leaders and the representatives of the European Union for making possible the events of today, which clearly marks a new start that is founded on mutual respect and accountability, in a spirit of genuine partnership.

Our special appreciation goes to our Brother, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, for his leadership in building a global partnership against poverty and despair. We are particularly pleased that he is here today to provide support that will no doubt ensure that Africa too can achieve the Millennium Development Goals to which we all committed ourselves two years ago.

For us in Africa, the journey is just beginning. It all started at the 1999 OAU Summit when the African leaders took the first step in conceiving a new vision and strategy for the regeneration of their continent. As the elected leaders of the African people, we saw it as our duty and responsibility to respond to the many challenges facing Africa. We first introduced this new initiative to the G8 in Japan in July 2000. After the approval of the strategic policy framework and Programme of Action by the OAU Summit in Lusaka, last July, we made a more comprehensive presentation to the G8 Summit in Genoa.

The NEPAD framework document is focused on the need for deep social, economic and political changes that must take place in the continent, and we accept responsibility for bringing them about. There is also emphasis on building new partnerships: with the African peoples, with the developed world, especially the G8, and within the South.

We appreciate G8’s positive response to the initiative in Genoa, and the decision to appoint representatives to develop a detailed, concrete and implementable response to NEPAD, in consultation with African leaders.

Today marks the culmination of intense consultations between both the G8 Expert Group and our representatives. Recent interactions have included a number of visits by African leaders to your capitals and visits by some G8 leaders to Africa, namely Prime Minister Blair and Prime Minister Chretien. We appreciate the enthusiasm and frankness that has characterized the engagement between our representatives. We are here today to discuss the outcomes of these interactive processes.

We thank you most sincerely for accepting our invitation to build a new partnership between your respective countries and Africa: a partnership based on mutual responsibility, accountability and respect. It is hoped that this new beginning will lead to more fruitful and productive interactions as the NEPAD programme proceeds. It is vital that we maintain a system of structured dialogue similar to that which has characterised our interactions over the past year.

Specifically, we note, with appreciation, that you commit your governments to mobilize and energize global action, to marshal resources and expertise and to provide impetus in support of NEPAD’s objectives. We also note, with great encouragement, that the G8 will undertake mutually reinforcing actions in support of Africa’s accelerated economic growth and sustainable gains against poverty. Further, we note that the Action Plan focuses on a limited number of priority areas where, collectively and individually, you can add value. This indicates to us a willingness to scale up support as progress is made.

We are pleased to note that, in addition to the overall declaration and commitment, specific actions and projects are proposed in all the priority areas of the NEPAD programme. This confirms that, not only is NEPAD is accepted as the basis for a new partnership with Africa, but also that the G8 is prepared to engage in actions with specified commitments and time frames.

No less than 100 actions and projects have been identified across the NEPAD priority areas. The challenge now is to have in place a process and structure which will ensure that these actions and projects are indeed implemented.

We are particularly encouraged by the actions and projects proposed under the headings of: peace and security; institution building and governance; trade and investment - including market access; debt relief for LDCs; education; health; agriculture; water; and partnering Africa in mobilising private sector investment.

It is true that, given the magnitude of the development challenges facing Africa, the resources required will be far in excess of those proposed. However, we are hopeful that, now that you have embarked with us on this long journey, you will continue with us to the end, and that we can therefore continue to count on your support whenever we might need it in the future.

There are a number of vital issues that we must continue to address together, these include: prevention, management and resolution of conflicts; issues of market access; reforming ODA delivery and halting ODA declines; debt remission; and addressing structural constraints to the international competitiveness of Africa.

Let me crave your indulgence on the issue of debt. It is an issue that I will urge you to feel in the core of your hearts, the painful realities of others. While we are not asking for wholesale cancellation of all debts, we appeal to you, in the name of the partnership which we aiming to build, and for the sake of common humanity, to examine the debt issue and deal with it on a case-by-case basis. Your response to this appeal will be a good yardstick for our expectations of performance as to how much you are prepared to keep your side of the bargain in our new partnership.

The most urgent challenge now is action!. We must demonstrate success. In this regard, we will be submitting our Progress Report and Initial Action Plan to kick start implementation, to the African Union Summit in Durban, South Africa, in two weeks time. After the Summit, we plan to move forward with implementation. We will take the first practical steps to establish the African Peer Review Mechanism, and we will intensify our efforts to deal with the conflicts on our continent.

The steps to implement the NEPAD programmes will be taken in close collaboration with the African peoples, their institutions, and with you as our partners. Here again, I believe that we must reiterate mutual accountability, manifesting, not only in the African Peer Review Mechanism, which is imperative, but also in partnership commitment review.

We re-assert our commitment to consolidate democracy and sound economic management, to promote peace and security and people centered development, as stated in the NEPAD framework document. The African Peer Review Mechanism will foster the sharing of information and experiences, and will reinforce successful and exemplary practices.

We acknowledge that within this Mechanism, African countries are at different stages of development. Some are experiencing conflicts, while others are in the process of emerging from conflicts, and the nature of the conflicts vary considerably. Therefore, not all countries will be able to participate at the same level in the envisaged enhanced partnership. And it will be necessary to have differentiated support programmes, so as to cater for these differences.

The NEPAD process will also focus on ending conflicts, providing assistance to countries emerging from conflicts, and giving support to small and least developed countries, so as to expedite their reconstruction and development. In this regard, we fully agree that responses to situations of humanitarian needs must remain universal and independent of particular regimes. Further support beyond this, though, must be targeted at reinforcing progress in line with the principles, standards and goals of NEPAD, as approved by African leaders.

We appeal to all our people and our friends throughout the world to accept this as the beginning of a new long-term and sustained relationship between Africa and the G8 states. A relationship based on mutual respect, commitments, trust, benefits and interests. It is also a relationship anchored on a vision and programme of action developed by African leaders to address the serious challenges facing Africa in order that Africa too may join the global mainstream and enjoy the benefits of a new age.

We do not expect a magic wand from our development partners. We are keeping our expectations to realistic levels. At the same time, let me assure you that we are determined, more than ever, to do whatever it takes, and however long and hard, to change Africa’s fortune for the better, in this century. The process of achieving NEPAD’s goals calls for all hands on deck on the continent of Africa. It will need every support Africa can get from the rest of the world. And it will require that the productive interaction between NEPAD and the G8 continues long after Kananaskis.

I thank you.