Commonwealth Secretary-General: Commission for Africa Report is a step forward – but Africa needs quantum leap
11 March 2005
"The Commission for Africa Report is a step in the right direction, but we still need a quantum leap before we see real change in the lives of African people," said Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon today, following the launch of the Commission for Africa Report.
"The Report ticks the right boxes and vindicates what the Commonwealth has been advocating for decades. It provides an excellent template for action - but only a template. It will remain hollow if it doesn't stimulate the delivery of democracy and development to the people of Africa. There is still a huge gap between positive recommendations and real change on the ground. The missing link is political will and until now, it has been sorely lacking.
"This report has been billed as the most serious analysis of Africa's problems for a generation. Good reports feed the media, but they don't feed the poor. When G8 leaders meet in July, they must go beyond promises and expressions of goodwill. They must, quite simply, convert this report into action. Only then will the world know that the Commission for Africa has delivered.
"The Commonwealth has been urging action on most of the issues raised in the report for many years. Commonwealth Finance Ministers have been calling for debt cancellation since the 1980s and were involved in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative, which has now been embraced by the wider community, including the G8.
"We have also been putting pressure on the European Union, the United States and Japan to end the trade apartheid created by agricultural and other subsidies and to increase aid flows to Africa. I am pleased to see that the Commission backs the Commonwealth's position. It is also encouraging to see that the Report calls for immediate action to stamp out corruption, demanding that banks in the developed world repatriate money stolen by corrupt leaders and recommends an extra US$10 billion in aid a year for vital infrastructure.
"This is a positive report. But a crucial question remains: will leaders in the industrialised world have the courage and determination to implement these recommendations and enable Africa to move along on the path to prosperity? In particular, will they be daring enough to stand up to farming lobbies and scrap trade subsidies for good?
"As I have said many times before, helping Africa grow out of poverty is in everyone's interest. If rich countries want more security, more predictable immigration flows and a more prosperous future, they cannot afford to turn their backs on Africa. There has never been a better time to help Africa. And there could be no greater indictment of our generation if we fail."
Note to Editors:
The Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative involves 38 countries, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ten of these states are Commonwealth members -Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. These HIPC countries are eligible for debt relief, under the World Bank recommendation.
A Commonwealth HIPC Ministerial Forum will be held in Maputo, Mozambique from 15-16 March 2005 to discuss domestic debt burdens and debt sustainability, and public-private partnerships investment in HIPC countries.
05/21 11 March 2005
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