Posted by Nnanna Okere, Abuja on
Foreign investors have been urged to take advantage of economic and political reforms going on in most African countries to invest their resources.....
Foreign investors have been urged to take advantage of economic and political reforms going on in most African countries to invest their resources.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who made the appeal, yesterday at the plenary session of the Leo H. Sullivan Summit in Abuja explained that for African countries to make progress and attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), foreign investment remains imperative.
She said progress of African countries is "crucial to the progress, pride and dignity of our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora.
"I believe if Africa is to make progress in achieving high growth rate and improving the livelihood of its people, millennium development strategy adopted must place the private sector at the centre", she said.
She noted that for many years, Africans have hesitated to take action and this accounted for lack of conducive economic and political environment, adding that the slow pace of action brought about lack of adequate and honest information about the continent.
Okonjo-Iweala noted that "Africa's struggle is a perception problem propagated and underscored by domestic and western media alike", stressing that the continent is often portrayed as that of war, disaster, hunger, poverty, disease and corruption.
The Minister stressed that under these circumstances, investors are discouraged from investing in countries that were making progress on the continent.
Also speaking, Deputy Chairman, African Union (AU), Dr. Patrick Mazimhaka, urged African governments to promote strategies which can attract investors and investments instead of relying on aid and grants from international donor agencies.
Dr. Mazimhaka noted that African countries were trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty from which they would not be able to escape without investing heavily on infrastructure and human capital.
He said, "Africa does not require charity, it needs investment so that it can escape its dependence on aid and grant".
The AU leader, said, the continent had lagged behind in development due to lack of clear-cut strategies to promote investment, noting that many countries made huge strides in building, regulation and pursuit of home-grown technology.
He stated, that Africa required investments amounting to billions of dollars to help bring about accelerated development, stressing that donor contributions to the continent had remained a fraction of what was needed.
He emphasized, that the only in way Africa could come out of poverty was to stop playing "the blame game" and further urged international donor agencies to cancel debts owed it by African debtor nations.