Stockholm Conference on "Partnership Africa"
A New Era for Africa and its Global Partners

Keynote Address at the by
K. Y. Amoako, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary, ECA

25 June 1997 Stockholm, Sweden

Thank you for your gracious welcome to this Conference in which Sweden is reassessing its relationships with Africa. I also want to thank the Government of Sweden for inviting my African colleagues and myself to Sweden and for hosting what is a hallmark event.

Mr. Chairman,

The Honourable Minister for International Cooperation,

Your Excellencies,

and friends from Africa and Sweden,

Please know that these thanks go beyond the customary expressions of gratitude one hears at such gatherings. This is because Sweden's invitation for Africa to join you at this Conference is more than an act of just kindness. We, in Africa, hold this event to be the symbol of -- and I trust, a new foundation for -- strengthened ties between our Continent and your country.

The time is right for exploring new and more profound relations. Optimism is growing, both within and outside the Continent, that, before too long, the substantial political and economic progress taking place in Africa, along with the abatement of conflicts, will translate into viable economies, more just societies, and a far more peaceful region.

The Japanese, for example, are moving ahead with their TICAD process to involve Asia and Africa in mutual trade and investment. The United States has completed its reassessment and has just announced trade development and investment initiatives with Africa. The Lomé Convention is being reassessed by its partners. And Africa was one of the three items of the agenda at the just concluded Summit of the Eight. On the increasingly important non-Western scene, Africa is also being looked to in more open partnership terms by key countries in Asia and Latin America.

These high-level re-appraisals of Africa's potential reflect changing realities on the continent. Thus, it is particularly timely for Sweden to be examining its relationships with Africa. African states are aware of and appreciate Sweden's long history of technical and financial support to improve the quality of life for the poor.

The world knows the Swedish nation for the quality of its work with development partners, for the lead role it has assumed in development assistance and diplomacy, and for its deeply felt and consistently honoured commitments to the multilateral system. We look forward to continued close cooperation.

Africa itself, as you know, is in the midst of its own reappraisal. For a long time, Africa's leaders have been working against the awesome poverty and internal conflicts that have held sway over much of our land. Yet, despite our successes with political accountability, macroeconomic rationality, and internal accord, most people in the world -- including, it must be said, some of Africa's leading thinkers -- cling to the view of Africa as a failure at socioeconomic development. Apparently, even Africans are prepared for everything but success.

One reason that Africa's triumphs tend to go unappreciated is because the victories are more complex and nuanced than those in other developing regions of the world such as East Asia, for example. Progress in Africa is highly differentiated, country by country and institution by institution.

Some countries in Africa are humming politically, but some are mired in tyranny.

Some countries (more than 35 out of 53, in fact) have made strong economic progress over the past few years. But a few are stagnating economically.

Peace is finally coming to much of Africa. But who would deny that Sudan, Somalia and Sierra Leone still face awesome challenges?

And what is true at the national level is also true at the institutional level, where many institutions are progressing, but some are at a standstill.

In general, today's differentiated Africa is tallying some stunning successes, some overall progress, and some failures. Some of our gains are still fragile. Therefore, a development policy that seeks to engage today's Africa as a world partner must itself be differentiated, building programmes and offering incentives that stimulate progress. At the same time, the development policy should be discouraging practices that promote tyranny, impoverishment, and strife.

Let me now proceed to address some implications of the presence of an increasingly progressive Africa on the global scene.

Like every other region of the world, Africa requires economic access to global opportunities that promote trade, investment, and new technology; welcomes more tourism; and desires strengthened cultural ties. Africa's product mix, in turn, is growing more interesting and sophisticated, and our natural resources more valuable.

Clearly, a more vibrant Africa, will also open up unprecedented opportunities for good profits for business owners as well as good opportunities for workers in our partner countries, and a better preserved ecosystem for us all. And as our people gain wider opportunities to achieve their potential, our contributions to the world will increase. Indeed, it is the very development of such human capacities that will help Africa pull itself out of poverty and shed internal injustice.

In addition, no one can afford to see Africa sidelined and marginalized. The world needs us not only because of what we bring to the table, but because of the dangers to international well-being that can flow from an isolated Africa. A slow-growing continent, fed by news about how well-of other people are elsewhere, will not develop into the global citizen that a progressive Africa would be. And any resulting leakages onto the world scene of crime, disease, drugs, and terrorism are not the exports that good people anywhere want to foster.

In a progressive Africa, however, the world will find:

An increasingly robust source for fresh ideas and intellectual collaboration;

An upholder of the United Nations (after all, no continent has benefited more from the UN than Africa);

A provider of needed products, services, and resources; and

A destiny for eco-tourism.

Already, a number of Western countries are finding that their trade with Africa is beginning to grow sizably in comparison to trade with other regions of the world. But the sluggish rate at which long-standing issues are being resolved makes a slower-than-expected response by foreign investors to our economic progress, our establishment of capital markets, and our financial sector reforms.

The glacial pace at which countries richer and more powerful than Africa are being welcomed to the global scene also creates a log-jam. For every Korea in the OECD and Mexico in NAFTA, there is a middle-income country in the political wilderness. When we see countries in Latin America and Asia whose GDPs rival those of all of continental Africa not offered a seat at the Western-run tables, we realize Africa must work at least twice as hard as any other region to be recognized by the major international clubs.

One way for Africa to be accepted in key industrial groupings is to come as a guest, much as a guest is invited to lunch at a private club by a member. (Note, for example, that the discussion at the Summit of Eight took place without the benefit of any African participation.) For Africa to be at such tables, we first need sponsorship by national governments that are already club members.

Another way for Africa to gain access to such inner circles is to power itself onto the world stage by virtue of our own collective strength. But Africa has a long way to go before it can muster enough political and economic strength to reach even the weak global clout of Mercusor.

At this time of rising potential for Africa, Africa needs key friends to assure that our countries receive fair treatment on economic issues (thereby endowing us with some of the political clout we lack on our own) and to help us highlight our qualitative contributions to the world.

For example, we need partners to assure that trade issues are fairly addressed in the very WTO processes Africa is just beginning to learn. And we need to partner with friends in those international circles addressing issues of debt, technology transfer, and investment.

(I could also mention securing seats on the UN Security Council, but after all, I am a UN Official.)

As Sweden sets its future relations with Africa, it will do so against the scene I have just described to you, namely:

A time of rising optimism about Africa's future;

A time when successes and failure on the continent are becoming increasingly differentiated;

A time when Africa needs champions in the global world order;

And at a time when African leaders appreciate that Africa must help itself move ever more quickly to sound political systems, viable economic policies, and good governance -- all necessary but not sufficient for a dynamic, prosperous Africa.

We also need good partners. Clearly, an ideal partner facing this kind of scenario would approach the partnership with a hard head and a good heart. Of course, I do not want to advise you on what you should do as a nation. I can merely make suggestions. And let me preface these suggestions by saying that although I have come from Addis Ababa, which is about the same elevation at Mt. Sinai, I have nine, and not ten, suggestions for your consideration. The suggestions set out some of the ways in which an ideal partner could help reinforce the good in Africa and help arrest the bad, and serve as an interlocutor on the global scene.

FIRST: An ideal partner would encourage the rest of the international community to accelerate progress in those countries that have made substantial improvement in governance and peace, as well as in economic and social development.

At the same time, the ideal partner would be a risk-taker, matching the risks that the new leaderships are taking in countries just starting to make progress. It is easy to back an acknowledged winner. An ideal partner, however, would help establish a consensus of support around emerging winners.

SECOND: An ideal partner would reinforce good leadership by supporting Africa's own national and regional plans instead of substituting imported and often inappropriate concepts. This partner would try to minimize the proliferation of projects, with one important exception: the arena of intellectual collaboration, which thrives on diversity.

THIRD: An ideal partner would foster the right environment for progress. Increasingly we realize that the hallmarks of civilization are peace, human rights and an international ethos of right behaviour. States are still central to shaping this environment, but civil society and corporate behaviour have increasing roles. In the basket of desirable actions in these areas, I would include the following:

Actively supporting conflict prevention and peace processes;

Fostering ethical behaviour by public and private actors; and

Serving as a voice in international fora for ethical answers to policy issues.

Sweden brings many strengths to such actions and a history of concerned involvement.

FOURTH: An ideal partner would work towards accelerating human development -- long a key contribution of your nation to human justice -- as a centrepiece of development efforts. The approach would range from fostering such human-development services as universal basic education and health, through to the resurrection of higher education and expanded science-based training. Africa has also had much to learn from countries in this part of the world, where social development has been so well practised, about including women as well as men, the aged, and the physically challenged in any human development scheme. Indeed, across the board, bolstering human capacities need very much to be an essential development goal.

Let us also remember that, at the Social Summit, both rich and poor, committed themselves to the 20:20 proposition regarding investment in social development. The ideal partner will hold each party to the compact accountable for such allocations.

FIFTH: An ideal partner would work to assure that Africa receives fair treatment on economic issues. Such a partner would work for opportunities to help Africa with its larger agenda on the world scene. It would:

Serve as a strong voice for equity in access to markets;

Stand as a leader on the debt issue, which is now fundamentally a moral issue for the West; and

Help assure that Africa has access to advanced technologies. (I might note that one of the attractions of partnering with Sweden is your lead role in a wide range of technologies, particularly informatics, telecommunications, and medical technology.)

SIXTH: An ideal partner will help Africa fight its poverty and marginalization in the globalized world by mobilizing many of its key sectors to help Africa through acts of inclusion. It will support such pluralistic forces as African civil society, African enterprise, and African intellectual centres, and do so through collaborations and mentorships with its own counterpart centres. And it will foster existing and emerging leaders in Africa by assuring the presence of Africa at development conferences, technology meetings, trade policy, and other relevant intellectual and policy fora to which Africa is not ordinarily invited.

As an aside, the ideal partner will also be on the lookout for recognition of African accomplishments -- especially if this partner has some ties to the Nobel Prize! International recognition does more than honour. It can strengthen opposition to tyranny and propel bold ideas, new science, and modern methods to the forefront what I am urging here is a conscious policy of peer support by the ideal partner, not only through direct government action, but also by calling on the strengths of the partner's society.

SEVENTH: An ideal partner would also be an active leader in the donor community with clear pro-African goals. In this way, the ideal partner could work to raise interest in helping Africa expand its human resources and sharply decrease its dependence on foreign-led development.

New donors, especially those still hesitant about Africa's potential, can be introduced to Africa through joint activities with this ideal partner -- a kind of donor mentorship, if you will. Frankly, we can also use the peer pressure exerted by an ideal partner to bring East Asia's donor-might to Africa in ways that are sizeable and long term. And Africa needs an ideal partner that can try to keep the U.S. interest from flagging.

As an active donor leader, an ideal partner will anticipate that Asia and Latin America will be moving from IDA terms, and that the world will need to be prepared for an increasingly Africa-centred IDA.

EIGHTH: An ideal partner will understand that supporting the United Nations means supporting Africa. At home we see the UN differently than you do in your part of the world. In Africa, we see the UN at work every day, at work as a vital partner in our struggles for release from conflict, injustice, and poverty in every country and active in every sector by sector, problem by problem.

Not a day goes by that Africa is not on an active UN agenda in some key part of the world. Fortunately, the Nordic countries have provided consistently strong leadership for a stronger UN. Such leadership is irreplaceable and a key global asset.

As the ideal partner looks into establishing new policies vis-à-vis Africa, it is wise to take into consideration three UN efforts that work especially on behalf of Africa.

A little over a year ago, the UN launched a major, unprecedented initiative on Africa that would muster the best abilities and capabilities in the entire UN System on behalf of Africa. It is the United Nations Special Initiative on Africa (UN-SIA). The heart of this effort is a commitment to greatly expand basic education and basic health services. Other important features involve promoting informatics and civil society. Bilateral champions of this unprecedented Special Initiative are needed, and I urge a real exploration of such partnership opportunities.

I also want to mention three important UN-sponsored meetings: Cairo on Population (1994), Copenhagen on Social Development (1995) and Beijing on Women (1995). Action on the key recommendations from these Conferences must take place at the local level. Nevertheless, Africa has a huge stake in seeing that the global community remains responsible for helping nations deliver on the promises of these three global meetings.

And let us not forget the UN's work on peace and human rights in Africa. This work often need sponsorship and the gift of policy courage from leading nations.

These eight suggested areas of partnership bring me to:

THE NINTH POINT: An ideal partner would recognize the special need for strong African institutions whose work cuts across national boundaries. Africa needs to be internally cohesive if it is to be a stronger player on the global scene. Much has been achieved in a well-functioning SADC, improvement of other subregional organizations, the reform of the African Development Bank, a reformed ECA, and a newly reforming OAU. These improvements are not merely matters of organizational neatness. They translate into more cooperation in informatics, capital markets, and many other effective and important trade and investment opportunities that will help tie Africa's countries together.

Although some of Africa's recent subregional and regional reforms are proving more successful than others, all of these institutions can benefit from the other collaborations and support that an ideal partner can mobilize. By word and example, an ideal partner can help an often indifferent international environment understand the need for Africa to be internally cohesive and thereby foster peace-building and development through African interstate cooperation.

Now, if I were a potential ideal partner beginning to contemplate the above nine major areas of cooperation with Africa, I would be starting to wonder what my public would think of undertaking such an ambitious partnership. Perhaps they will not understand the shift from older styles of operating to a more complex and differentiated set of relationships with Africa, especially in these times of retrenchments in aid and scepticism about new international initiatives.

Granted, we must work together as soon as any partnership is formalized. We in Africa, stand ready to work with the ideal partner as it prepares both the political ground and its constituency for an ideal partnership with Africa. A media and communications strategy can help people see Africa in a new more balanced light and contemplate a new relationship with the Continent. This approach calls for a deliberate, public education campaign that introduces the public to today's changing, differentiated, and more self-reliant Africa.

Africa and its ideal partner might consider a few ideas for collaboration on what some would call "message positioning". Here are two ideas:

One could model new relationships for the public by involving leading African writers, scholars, artists and public figures in peer dialogues. The dialogues could be conducted in the mass media so that the general public can be privy to what is happening; in addition, discussions can be held in schools and appears in the specialized media where details can be more fully addressed.

One could also invest more in development education. Sweden's own SIDA's work on development education and its annual surveys of public opinion are at the head of the Development Assistance Community (DAC) class. Perhaps this accomplishment can be advanced a bit further by inviting leaders of various African sectors, including our indigenous civil society, to make the continent's own case more directly -- somewhat like my African colleagues and I are doing at this seminar.

I had thought I could hold my tablet of ideas to nine, but, forgive me: I have a tenth suggestion.

As I think over the challenging opportunities and the equally challenging tasks of engaging the imagination of an ideal partner's public and official community, I must also suggest that this partner should be bold. Boldness is the Marshall Plan, in the UN Summit for Children, and in many other development initiatives such as the citizen-led Micro-Credit Summit held earlier this year, has always been a sound approach to motivating people for larger purpose. Let us prove that such days of great visions of human progress and solidarity are still with us. Indeed, they could well help us all move together into the next century.

Mr. Chairman,

This gathering of leaders from Sweden and Africa is, in and of itself, an act of partnership. Thank you very much to taking this initiative and for your kind attention. My colleagues and I feel privileged to be included in this dialogue and are grateful for the spirit in which the dialogue is being conducted. I can only hope that my nine -- no, ten -- suggestions have a place in the deliberations we will now be going into and that you will be looking at again when you return to your offices. We are confident that the blueprint that you fashion will be a major contribution towards satisfying and sophisticated relationships between our two parts of the World.