22 April 2008
editorial
Ndola — A region that has vast resources of oil reserves, diamonds, gold, copper and other economically important minerals besides the abundant water resources and fertile soils is still wracked by high poverty levels.
Many people still live in abject poverty within the region while disease is prevalent and access to clean water is still a major challenge for many.
In comparison to other less endowed regions in Asia and elsewhere, the picture for Africa as a whole and the Southern African region in particular is grim. There are many factors of course, that can be said to be contributing to this state of affairs. Like all other developing countries, the region has been subjected to unfair trade arrangements.
This has seen most countries in the region trading in primary commodities at unfavorable conditions. This type of trade arrangement has meant that fewer resources have come in for development purposes. However, with introspection, it can be discerned that there are some aspects of the development process that the region needs to re- look at. As President Mwanawasa has pointed out, there is need for the region to adopt a practical approach in the efforts to tackle poverty in the region.
What is needed, and urgently so, is to go to the ground and actualise the many development blue prints that have been drawn up before
One vehicle for doing this would be to strengthen regional integration. It is heartening that President Mwanawasa as chairman of the Southern African Development Community (sadc) has reaffirmed the region's political will to accelerate the region's development. This resolve should now trickle down to the technocrats and citizens of SADC countries who are in fact the implementers of the programmes.
The SADC secretariat for instance, should play an instrumental role in ensuring that the agenda, as spelt out by the regional leadership is brought to realisation as promptly as possible. The citizens of the region need also to be galvanised to gorge a collective commitment to tackle the issues and implement programmes that would realise the goals of SADC.
In this way, the pooled effort will ensure that the people, harness and tap their own resources for the betterment of their lives through growth in the economies.
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