> Africa begins grappling with globalisation
> Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.
> 01:08 p.m Eastern Jun 27, 1998
>
> By Greg Calhoun
>
> CRANS MONTANA, Switzerland, June 27 (Reuters) - African leaders at a
> business forum in Switzerland said on Saturday there was a growing
> awareness on the continent that globalisation would be the name of the
> game in the future and they feared they would be left out.
>
> ``As Africans we feel globalisation is a phenomenon we have to
> address,'' Blaise Compaore, president of Burkina Faso, said at a
> business forum held each year at this Swiss Alpine resort.
>
> This year's session on Africa is a special theme at the international
> forum, which usually focuses on investment in eastern Europe, the former
> Soviet Union including Central Asia, north Africa and the Middle East.
>
> African leaders and representatives from supranational lending agencies
> attending this year said there has been an increasing acknowledgement of
> the need for greater economic transparency, better infrastructures and
> economic harmonisation in Africa.
>
> ``Africa is becoming aware of its position in the world...it wants to
> play the role that it played in the past,'' Ivory Coast Prime Minister
> Daniel Kablan Duncan said in a speech.
>
> But the leaders also expressed concern over the fact that progress has
> been slow and sufficient levels of essential private sector investment
> have not yet materialised.
>
> ``Progress in regional cooperation has been modest...the progress has
> not yet been what we expected,'' Omar Kabbaj, president of the African
> Development Bank, told the forum.
>
> He noted some progress in lowering tariff barriers and said gains have
> been made in West Africa in the areas of monetary cooperation and trade
> coordination.
>
> But to have any success at conquering poverty and becoming competitive
> enough to take part in the globalisation trend, the continent's economic
> growth rate must rise from its current level of three to four percent to
> at least eight percent, the delegates said.
>
> ``We need to be looking at least eight percent (economic growth) if
> Africa is to pass on the benefits of growth to the entire population,''
> Iain Christie, the World Bank sector leader for Africa said.
>
> Christie said liberalisation of its telecommunications sector and more
> emphasis on international trade, which was declining, were essential for
> the African continent.
>
> ``While trade is increasing in absolute terms it has declined in
> relative terms in the past 20 years so there is cause for concern,'' he
> said.
>
> He also said that while Africa was the most important continent for the
> World Bank these days, with only three percent of worldwide investment
> flows entering the region, more capital was a must.
>
> ``I think the growth of investment is a critical area,'' he said adding,
> ``high growth rates without investment is not sustainable.''
>
> As if to emphasise that point, one foreign diplomat who spoke with a few
> journalists on the sidelines of the conference forum noted that few if
> any representatives from the private sector were present.
>
> The forum discussions also focused on regional cross-border cooperation
> and on regional groupings of small and mid-sized enterprises.
>
> ``These are the firms that are going to compete in the regional markets
> in the first instance,'' Christie said.
>
> He also said regional integration would enable smaller entrepreneurs to
> eventually gain access to world markets.
>
>
> Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.
>
>
> ____________________________________
> E. Aggo Akyea
> Department of Commerce
> Minority Business Development
> 608/266-8379
>
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