African leaders pitched on Monday for more trade and investment from Asia, saying they were pushing through economic and political reforms that will open up business opportunities in the continent.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, speaking as chairperson of the African Union, told the opening of the two-day conference in Tokyo that the continent of more than 750-million people was rich with resources for Asian investors.
”With on-going reforms in Africa, the continent represents a very fertile and rewarding ground for investment,” Obasanjo told the conference called to spur trade between the two regions.
Obasanjo is one of the main leaders of the New Partnership for African Development, a plan put forward with South Africa and other African countries to promote economic and political reform, in return for investment by developed countries.
However, the Nigerian president said work was still needed at a government level to underpin business confidence.
”Friendly governments have to give a helping hand to their private sectors to gain confidence for investment,” Obasanjo said, calling for the creation of a Japan/Africa Trade Investment Centre and a new guarantee agency to underwrite Asian investment in Africa.
”Trade and private sector investment from Asia will assist in boosting economic growth on the African continent,” Obasanjo said.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said Africa had major opportunities for investment in infrastructure, as the continent was rapidly urbanising and improving its power supply, ports and railways.
”There is now great potential for new investments in Africa. We welcome investors from this region to come and invest,” Kibaki said.
”Over the last decade, Africa’s great potential for attracting investment has been hampered by political instability and insecurity in some countries. However, this situation is changing rapidly,” he stressed.
Hundreds of officials from nearly 50 African states, 14 Asian countries and 20 international organisations are taking part in the Tokyo conference.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in his opening speech that Africa could learn from Asia.
”In the last half century, Asia achieved unprecedented economic growth which was once dubbed the ‘East Asian Miracle’,” Koizumi said.
”In fact, this was not a miracle but the fruit of tireless efforts by the Asian people. The purpose of Asia-Africa cooperation is to share and make use of the Asian experiences for African development,” he said.
More than half of Africa’s $130-billion annual exports go to the European Union, with United States-bound exports accounting for 19% and Asia 16%, according to United Nations data.
But exports to Asia showed the highest annual growth rate of 10% among the destinations from 1990 to 2001.
Michel Wormser, World Bank director for Private Sector and Infrastructure Development in Africa, said Africa should improve its business environment but that it was also ”critical” for Asia to open its markets further.
”The escalation in tariffs which has been observed in Asian markets makes it difficult for Africa to export anything besides primary commodities,” he said.
Wormser also urged Asian companies to ”show corporate responsibility” when it comes to the environment and management transparency.
The conference, known as the Ticad Asia-Africa Trade and Investment Conference, is co-hosted by Japan, the World Bank, the United Nations and other international groups.
It is a follow-up to the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad III) held last year.
Ticad is a Japanese initiative started in 1993 to raise international support for African development and has been held every five years. – Sapa-AFP