African countries must integrate if they are to overcome poverty, facilitate development and access international markets, Eastern African leaders said at a regional summit in Nairobi on Wednesday.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, his Ugandan and Rwandan counterparts Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame as well as top government officials from the region were taking part in the one-day meeting about the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
Currently in the embryonic stage, Nepad is an African initiative that aims to develop the world’s poorest continent through massive injection of investment, and places heavy emphasis on good governance and democracy.
”The wave of globalisation continues to sweep through the corners of the world, while economic blocks continue their claim on international trade and development assistance,” Kibaki told the summit in the Kenyan capital.
”It is estimated that Africa accounts for no more than 2% of the world’s exports. This is a sad state of affairs that has marginalised the African continent,” Kibaki said.
”To improve on this, African countries must move fast towards integration, as integration of the African continent is no longer a matter of convenience, but an indispensable strategy of survival and development,” Kibaki urged.
Museveni said that African countries can develop only by creating employment and developing infrustracture as well as working towards continental unity.
”As a continent, we must work as one unit, develop infrastructure together and negotiate together, just as we did in Cancun, Mexico,” Museveni said.
”We must sharpen our tools in order to fight for our survival and future,” he added.
Kagame said, for his part: ”Recent developments have shown that we need to pay more attention to strengthen regional integration in order to access international markets and have a bigger voice in the fight for access of these markets.
”Nepad provides an opportunity and framework to achieve this market,” he added.
Eight other countries in the region — Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Somalia, Tanzania and Sudan — were represented by senior government officials. — Sapa-AFP