- Manoah Esipisu
Sirte, Libya - Debt relief and increased aid would inspire investment in Africa but the key to growth was better trade terms, a senior African Union (AU) official said yesterday.
Elisabeth Tankeu, the AU's trade and industry commissioner, doubted whether western countries were ready to cut subsidies and allow Africa to process its raw commodities to earn more revenue and promote growth.
"I don't know whether our foreign partners, the G8, want to tackle this subject. We understand they don't want Africa to be a competitor in the same market but we refuse to be only a consumer," Tankeu said.
Leaders of the G8 rich nations meet in Scotland tomorrow and lifting Africa out of poverty will be high on their agenda. Rich nations such as the US have argued that they have helped Africa improve with initiatives such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which allows some African countries to export a range of commodities to the US free of tariffs.
Tankeu said a view emerging from some western countries was to use aid to boost trade and investment, and if that was added to beneficiation then Africa might have a real chance of reaping fair value for its goods.
She spoke before heads of state and government from the 53-member AU began a two-day summit in the Libyan city of Sirte that will focus on moves by rich countries to help develop the continent and debate UN reform.
Africa's share of global trade is just 2 percent. African officials said home-grown initiatives such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development were essential to boost trade.
Tankeu said stability emerging on the continent with the resolution of long-standing conflicts was helping investment confidence and improving Africa's production capacity.
"We have to develop our own productive capacity, our own capacity for market access. I don't know whether we can tackle the question of investment effectively without fixing our own problems," she said.
"We also need to improve our own economies to produce more to sell on the international market.
"We need to fight our friends so they can see the sense in our processing our raw materials before selling. We have to fight," Tankeu said. - Reuters