Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has called on Africa to send a "clear message" to next month's crucial meeting of the G20, the world's major economic powers, to help mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis on the continent.
Speaking at a conference in Dar es Salaam organized jointly by the Tanzanian government and the International Monetary Fund, Kikwete said the crisis posed "the greatest danger ever… in recent history" to African development. "[It] threatens to reverse or even wipe out the hard won socio-economic gains made by African countries over the past few decades."
Yet, he added, "Africa's voice on this unnerving situation has been muted… in different global initiatives and processes which have emerged to respond to the crisis…" He said the conference, which includes African finance ministers and central bank governors, business leaders, academics and members of civil society, offered a unique opportunity for Africa to express its voice.
He said it was important that Africa should avoid repeating the experience of the 1980s and early 1990s, "when after the second oil shock of late 1970s and world recession of early 1980s, many of our countries lost a decade-and-a-half of growth and experienced a reversal of some of the hard-earned gains in education, health, water and infrastructure development.
"We cannot afford to 'mark time' again. We need, ourselves together with our partners, to take measures that will help us stay the cause of steady economic growth and continue with investment in building capacity for further growth and attaining the Millennium Development Goals."
Kikwete added: "With the world economy at a crossroads, risks facing Sub-Saharan Africa have intensified. If the concerted efforts of policy makers around the globe fail to re-establish trust in the international financial system, the world economy risks a deeper and more prolonged recession.
"Sub-Saharan African countries would suffer from steeper reduction in the external demand for its commodities, dwindling foreign exchange earnings and remittances, declining corporate profitability, incomes and aid flows. Consequently, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa may drop more sharply than envisaged, risking erosion of the gains painfully achieved."
