Abuja — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's foreign minister and former finance minister, used the occasion of a summit of African and African American leaders to highlight the role of the private sector in African development and the need for increased local capacity.
Okonjo-Iweala told delegates to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit that there is profound change all over the continent, "but there's lack of honest information." The portrayal of Africa as "a continent of wars, disasters, hunger, poverty and corruption," undermines investor confidence, she said, and causes active imaginations to perceive more dangers than actually exist.
"Africa is changing, and economic and political landscapes are improving," she said, arguing that "business opportunities abound and now is the time to invest in Africa." In contrast with Africa's sluggish 2.6 percent economic growth for the period 1988-2000," she said, when "inflation was high, governance was poor and corruption rampant," African economies grew by 5.2 percent in 2003.
While acknowledging much work yet to be done on issues of governance and accountability, Okonjo-Iweala said that the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism, both established by African governments, have strengthened democratic gains. "From Senegal to Kenya, from Egypt to South Africa, democratic elections are the norm," she said, insisting that "the four countries in turmoil - Somalia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote d'Ivoire - are the exceptions."
Presenting Africa as a roaring engine of economic growth, brimming with business investment opportunities, she pointed to Tunisia, South Africa, Botswana and Nigeria as examples, and said Africans themselves are among the investors in Africa's future. "People in the Diaspora are sending money back in substantial quantities, providing a new development funding source," she said, "and the private sector is taking note."
In that context, she said, Africa can attain the UN's Millennium Development Goals to substantially reduce poverty in about a decade, if the growth rate continues at its present pace. She cited projections by the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as indications that economic expansion will persist.
Okonjo-Iweala goes beyond advocacy of traditional, large-scale investment, calling for microfinance for small and medium enterprises "as the vehicle of growth and employment creation" that will make the difference in people's lives. She urged conference delegates to "fight negative outlook and let the world know that Africa is open for business."
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Clinton, in a brief speech, said structural realities can make the difference in successful development planning. His organization, the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, focuses on local capacity building alongside implementing programs to fight HIV/Aids and other diseases and promoting economic development. The foundation, he says, only goes "where the government invites us and where we can create systems."
The former President called for a commitment from governments and companies to help expand testing for HIV/Aids, citing the southern African country of Lesotho as a model of national commitment. Lesotho will soon be providing free and voluntary HIV counseling and testing for every citizen over the age 12, and Clinton wants that to become the trend in a continent where up to "90 percent of people still don't know their HIV status."
But whether the issue is health or the economy, he sees relationships among African non-governmental organizations, the government and the people, working together in an organized way, as central to success. "I am convinced that the number one challenge today in Africa is building the systemic capacity which will enable the people who live here to make their own progress and save the future," he said. "One thing I've learned is that intelligence, ability and effort are evenly distributed [in the world], but investment, opportunity and organized effective systems are not."
Read related article on World Bank president's remarks at the summit.
