Museveni criticises Africa’s dependence on donors

Museveni criticises Africa’s dependence on donors
Written by Charles Mangwato in Kampala, Uganda
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 5:20:11 PM

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni has criticised Africa's continued dependence on donors whose slow release of funds to critical sectors is frustrating.

During the opening of the three-day Global 2009 Smart Partnership conference yesterday, President Museveni said donors promised to fund crucial sectors like construction of roads but did not deliver.

"It creates political problems for us. People think we are not doing our work," he said.

President Museveni outlined the critical pillars of growth as skilled manpower, value addition, industrialisation, markets, adequate and cheap electricity, transport network, information communication technology, the private sector and a good public service.

"There is no way you will attract industries without good infrastructure," he said.

President Museveni said the Smart Partnership dialogue was intended to enhance public-private partnership by encouraging a win-win or prosper-your-neighbour philosophy.

He noted that many other international fora and think thanks pushed the interests of the initiator but this was not the case for the Smart Partnership.

President Museveni told delegates that without value addition, Africa continued to donate jobs and money to the developed world through export of raw materials.

He said colonial and post-colonial governments pushed for more production without emphasising processing.

"You can see this is growth without qualitative leap, growth and development must lead to social economic transformation like it happened in Europe. This must happen in Uganda. You cannot continue to have a society where 79 per cent are peasants," President Museveni said.

He cited coffee which if unprocessed would be sold at US $1 per kilogramme while the roasted or ground type would fetch US $15.

On energy, he said Africa had a paltry 130 kilowatt hour (KwHr) per capita while the United States had 12,000 KwHr per capital.

President Museveni said instead of budgeting for energy generating, the civil service prioritised salary increments.

At the ongoing conference, delegates from Barbados and Malaysia presented testimonies of how their countries achieved the socio-economic transformation of their societies.

And President Rupiah Banda said Zambia had made tremendous progress in embracing the spirit of dialoguing as one of the steps to enhancing social economic development in the country.

He said Zambia would continue pursuing the spirit of dialogue introduced by the Smart Partnership Movement so as to enhance its own socio-economic development agenda.

President Banda said the country had held a number of conferences to bring together stakeholders from different backgrounds to discuss and find solutions to the challenges the country faced.

During a cocktail party held at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort in Kampala last Sunday, President Banda said Zambia would also continue involving all relevant stakeholders in key programmes aimed at achieving socio-economic development.

President Banda, who gave an account of Zambia's achievements since the Smart Partnership dialogue held at Mulungushi in Lusaka last year, cited the hosting of the national indaba and Zambia International Business Advisory Council.

He said Zambia had also co-hosted the first financial inclusion advisors' programme from April 6 to 9, 2009 with the central bank of Malaysia in collaboration with the Smart Partnership Movement.

"We are involving all relevant stakeholders in key programmes. However, the challenges we face is limited capacity to implement the progrmames in full," he told over 500 international delegates who included the host President Museveni,Yahya AJJ Jammeh of Gambia, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and King Mswati III of Swaziland.

Others were Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Malaysian Prime minister Dato' Sri Mohd Najib.

Former heads of state from Mozambique and Botswana, Joacquim Chissano and Sir Ketumile Masire respectively were also in attendance.

President Banda, who handed over the chairmanship of the Smart Partnership Movement to President Museveni, said Zambia would further build on what had been done so far to further entrench its national development objectives.

He said Zambia had embarked on programmes of developing its energy, information communication and technology sectors.

He said the government would create a conducive environment for microfinance services and reduce the cost of doing business in Zambia.

President Banda said the country would invest in human resource development through education and health and try to change people's mindset towards national development goals.

The Smart Partnership Movement dialogue which opened in the Ugandan capital was held under the theme “Towards smarter globe-The Smart Partnership Way for realising socio-economic transformation through regional integration.”

President Banda was later expected to witness the launch of the African Smart Partnership peace hub.