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African Leaders' Statement at the G8 Summit
NEPAD Secretariat (Midrand)

June 28, 2002
Calgary
[Printer friendly version - 16Kb < 1min (4 pages)]


Statement issued by four African leaders of the NEPAD Steering committee at the end of their meeting with the G8 during the Summit held in Kananaskis, Canada, 27 June 2002.

  1. A Summit meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) and four African leaders from the member-countries of the Steering Committee of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) took place in Kananaskis, Canada, on 27 June 2002 during the annual G8 Summit held from 26-27 June 2002.


  2. The four African Heads of State in attendance were:

    1. His Excellency, Mr. Abdul Aziz Bouteflika, President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria;


    2. His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;


    3. His Excellency, Maitre Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal; and


    4. His Excellency, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa.


RELEASE OF THE G8 AFRICA ACTION PLAN

  1. In response to the NEPAD initiative, presented to the G8 during its Genoa Summit in 2001, the G8 released the details of its Africa Plan of Action based on the following priorities:
Peace and Security

  1. The G8 Heads of State and Government expressed their commitments to support African efforts at resolving the principal armed conflicts on the continent, through the following actions:
    • provision of technical and financial assistance to capacity of regional and sub-regional organizations in Africa for prevention, management and resolution of conflicts by year 2010;


    • regulation of activities of arms brokers and traffickers and elimination of flow of illicit weapon to and within Africa;


    • elimination of anti-personnel land mines;


    • working with African Governments and the civil society towards addressing the linkage between armed conflict and the exploitation of natural resources; and


    • resolution of refugee problems and the enhancement of post-war peace building efforts.
Good Political, Economic and Corporate Governance

  1. The G8 also endorsed NEPAD priority programmes in the area of democracy, human rights, peace and good political, economic and corporate governance, including promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Group resolved to strengthen the institutional capacities of African Governments in this domain.


  2. Taking into consideration the importance, which NEPAD attaches to the promotion of accountability and transparency in governance, the G8 also expressed its support for the adoption and implementation of effective measures to combat corruption, bribery and embezzlement Fostering Trade,
Investment, Infrastructure, Economic Growth and Sustainable Development.

  1. The Plan proposes to help Africa attract investment, both from within Africa and from abroad and implement policies conducive to economic growth. It also includes action aimed at facilitating capacity-building and development of infrastructure projects, with particular attention to regional initiatives.
Market Access and Capital Flows

  1. The G8 reviewed NEPAD objectives in the area of resource mobilisation for poverty reduction and development. In this connection, it expressed firm commitment to assisting Africa in its current efforts aimed at attracting domestic and foreign investment, including taking actions to:
    • provide greater market access for African products;
    • increase funding and improving the quality of support for trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building;
    • improve the effectiveness of Official Development Assistance and
    • to strengthen ODA commitments for enhanced-partnership countries;
Agriculture and Water Resources

  1. On the promotion of agriculture and improvement of water resource management, the G8 undertook to support Africa's efforts to improve its agricultural sector in line with NEPAD core priorities.
Debt Relief

  1. The G8 reaffirmed that unsustainable debt burdens could remain an important obstacle to economic growth and development in African countries. Consequently, it expressed its readiness to consider, on a case-by-case basis, additional financial support to countries that are committed to good governance. In addition, the G8 indicated its desire to ensure that debt-vulnerable and very poor countries receive a significant proportion of International Development Association (IDA) funds in form of grants.
Promoting Human Development in the area of Education and Health.

  1. The G8 commitment in the area of human development is aimed at expanding knowledge through promotion of education and by enhancing capacity of Africa in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In particular, the G8 committed itself to support African countries to achieve the goal of universal primary education and equal access to education for girls.


  2. 12. On health, specific actions are to be put in place in support of Africa's efforts, to build a sustainable health system, combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, and eliminate polio, river blindness and other diseases.


AFRICAN LEADERS' RESPONSE TO THE G8 AFRICA ACTION PLAN.

  1. African leaders welcomed the release of the G8 Africa Action Plan, as an initial reaction sufficient to kick-start the implementation of NEPAD and noted that these actions would need to be upgraded and further elaborated as the partnership progresses, in order to fully address the many challenges facing the African continent.


  2. The African leaders also reiterated among other issues, the need to continue to work together on the NEPAD core priority areas, particularly conflict resolution, market access, reforms of the ODA, debt remission and the structural constraints to the international competitiveness of Africa.


  3. The African leaders stressed the need to examine the issue of debt carefully and deal with the problem in the spirit of genuine partnership, which the two sides had set out to establish. In addition to welcoming the commitments made with regard to covering the shortfall in the HIPC initiative, the African leaders also welcomed the intention of the G8 to consider the debt situation of the Medium Income Countries.


  4. They expressed the hope that the actual implementation of the Action Plan would commence upon the submission and approval of both the Progress Report on NEPAD and the Initial Action Plan at the next OAU/African Union Summit to be held in Durban, South Africa from 8-10 July 2002.


  5. On the African Peer Review Mechanism, African leaders noted the acceptance by the G8 of the self-assessment arrangement in NEPAD. They renewed their commitment to apply the desired leadership in ensuring compliance with its objectives. In this regard, they emphasized that such review process should also apply to the partnership commitments.


  6. Finally, African leaders noted with appreciation the intention of the G8 to allocate 50% or more of the new ODA funds, announced in Monterrey, Mexico to Africa. They also expressed their satisfaction at the readiness of G8 partners to continue the process of structured engagement and consultation in the progressive implementation of the initiative.


  7. With regard to the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development scheduled to convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, the African leaders welcomed the G8 leaders' commitment to ensure its success.


STATEMENT OF UN SECRETARY-GENERAL

  1. African leaders also took note of the statement issued by His Excellency, Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of UN, in which he described the Summit as a turning point in the history of Africa and indeed the world. He urged both the G8 and African leaders to expedite action on the implementation of the laudable objectives contained in the NEPAD framework document and the G8 Africa Action Plan.


  2. The Secretary-General emphasized the relevance of forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development in tackling the problems currently bedeviling Africa, such as HIV/AIDS, drought and the threat of famine in Southern Africa. To this end the G8 leaders committed themselves to respond to the drought and famine situation in Southern Africa.


  3. African leaders welcomed the Secretary-General's statement, and endorsed his call for urgent humanitarian assistance to people in acute distress.


APPRECIATION

  1. In conclusion, African leaders expressed their appreciation to G8 Heads of State and Government for the invitation extended to member-countries of the NEPAD Steering Committee to attend the G8 Summit in Kananaskis.


  2. They also expressed their appreciation to the host Prime Minister, His Excellency, Right Honourable Jean ChrР№tien, the Government and people of Canada for their brotherly hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for the success of the Summit.


  3. In the same vein, African leaders further thanked the Right Honourable Mrs. Adrienne Clarkson, Governor-General of Canada, who hosted them to a pre-Summit Dinner.


Issued at Kananaskis, Canada, 27 June 2002
 



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