POLITICS: NGOs Demand Key Role in Shaping Africa’s Future

By Almahady Cissé Reprint | | Print |

Almahady Cisse

SIBY, Mali, Jul 3 2002 (IPS) - Hotel managers and transport providers in Siby, a sleepy town some 52 kilometres east of the Malian capital city Bamako, where a group of civil society and rights activists converged to chart Africa’s future last week, must have little to do now.

The managers and the taxi drivers bade farewell to their 200 guests who attended a four-day forum to coincide with the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada.

The People’s Forum, unlike the G8 summit, was conceived as “the voice of the poor”. At the end of the forum, participants called for a “Marshall Plan” for Africa to jumpstart the continent’s economy.

They also demanded the creation of integrated economic zones and protection of Africa’s industrial sectors.

The forum constituted a “parallel summit” to the one attended by the G8 members Japan, Canada, the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, France and Russia in Kananaskis on Jun 27-28.

Participants from Mali, Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire, plus representatives from anti-globalisation groups, attended the Jun 25-28 parley. They discussed globalisation, debt, food security, trade, and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

Nicknamed the “Kananaskis Village of the People’s Forum”, Siby provided a “venue for intercultural exchanges and proposals, as well as for the development of effective alternatives to the neo-liberal policies which are at the heart of globalisation”.

“Our forum brings together poor people of the Southern Hemisphere to propose alternatives to the G8. G8 leaders are isolated from the reality of the world’s poor, but the destinies of millions are in their hands. And they make their decisions without taking into account the needs of the people, because they are only interested in multinational corporations and financial institutions,” said Aminata Barry Toure of Jubilee 2000, at the opening session of the forum last week.

“We are determined to have our say along with the rich,” said Solange Kone, president of the Ivorian Forum Against Debt and Poverty.

NEPAD, which was one of the subjects discussed at the G8 summit, was the object of strong criticism at Siby.

Organisers said the people of Africa were not consulted about NEPAD — a programme to kick-start social and economic development on the continent — that will be launched in the South African Port City of Durban next week. “You can’t do someone’s hair without her being at the hair saloon,” said Yaya Malle, assistant secretary general of the Confederation of Malian Workers, referring to the lack of input by ordinary Africans into NEPAD.

“NEPAD’s initiative, which consists of attracting private capital to revive growth, is suicidal,” said Cheick Cisse, a student at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal.

The issue of debt was also examined at the forum. In a statement entitled “Africa, Between the Devil of Globalisation and the Deep Blue Sea of Debt,” Samba Tembelli of Jubilee 2000 painted a gloomy picture of the continent.

“Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region on the continent,” he said. “Its debts rose from 60 billion U.S. dollars in 1980 to more than 206 billion U.S. dollars in 2000”. During that time, he said, debt service rose from 6.7 billion U.S. dollars in 1980 to 14.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2000.

The forum demanded that Africa’s debt be cancelled without further ado.