The persistent image of Africa as a continent in crisis imposes as high a risk premium on countries that are not in crisis than those that are, United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan said on Monday.
The developed world would respect Africa more if it actually resolved the conflicts that disfigured the continent, he told African leaders at the 38th and final summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in Durban.
”And I do mean resolve them. Managing them is not enough.”
Heads of state from across Africa have assembled in the South African port city for a three-day meeting that will usher in what is seen as a more powerful African Union (AU) to replace the OAU.
Annan said the AU could not replace the sovereign states of which it was composed. On the contrary, it should strengthen them, by allowing each country to draw strength from the others.
”In the last resort only a strong union can be strong itself. And the states must derive their strength, not from military force, but from the support of their people, mediated through a strong civil society.”
He said outsiders had become very cynical towards Africa over the past forty years. But this was beginning to change, as evidenced in the response of the Group of Eight industrialised nations to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) in Canada last month.
Although African leaders did not get everything they wanted, there appeared to be a new respect among those leaders for the continent.
However, they would respect Africa even more if it ended the conflicts that wracked its people.
”Africa’s persistent image as a continent in crisis tends to discourage foreign investors from recognising or taking advantage of the opportunities that Africa offers them.”
Annan said the idea of the union was noble and inspiring.
But building a successful AU in the present circumstances would require stamina and iron political will, combined with a readiness to accept a ”seemingly endless series of negotiations and compromises”.
”I believe we Africans have those qualities, or at least that we can develop.”
Too often, in recent times, the name of democracy had been misused to describe situations where a vote was taken without free and fair debate beforehand, and where those who had won 51% claimed the right to ”ride roughshod over the over 49%”.
”But that I suggest, is not true African democracy. In African democracy, the rulers listen to the ruled, and the majority to the minority,” he said.
The UN chief said the fact that the AU would be born on Tuesday was a tribute to the OAU’s success.
The organisation had been the unwavering voice of Africa in the fight against colonialism and apartheid and deserved a greater share of the credit than it was sometimes given.
It had established important pan-African doctrines, such as the respect for existing frontiers, and more recently the unique validity of free and fair elections as a means of bringing about political change.
The OAU had also secured peace agreements among several of its members, and had begun to establish a peacekeeping capability.
”It is an occasion to celebrate, and more important, an occasion for hope,” Annan said. – Sapa