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| Moi urges Africa to shake off stigma of investment risk
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By Napoleon Viban
PANA Special Correspondent
Dakar, Senegal (PANA) -
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi
said Monday that Africa needs to address the negative
impacts of conflicts on its efforts to attract foreign
investment.
"Time has come for us to appreciate the role of the
private sector in development," Moi said, while addressing
the opening in Dakar of a two-day conference on the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
The Kenyan leader observed that the bid for private foreign
investment was being compromised by conflicts, adding that
these cannot be fully resolved without tackling the
questions of good governance, democratisation and
transparency in public management.
"It is our challenge to provide a conducive atmosphere for
the private sector to thrive," he insisted.
Moi lamented that efforts to woo foreign investors
notwithstanding, "Africa is still considered a high-risk
zone" for business.
He told close to 800 private sector representatives attending
the forum that it was high time the private sector assumed a
complementary role in development efforts deployed by the
public sector.
The Kenyan leader welcomed "market opportunities" being opened
up, citing preferential trade schemes mooted by the European
Union vis-a-vis African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries
and, more recently, the African Growth and Opportunity Act
(AGOA) of the United States.
But he regretted that most African countries were yet to
avail themselves fully, of these openings.
According to him, public development assistance would still be
welcomed, and he expressed the hope that the G8 countries
would meet recent pledges to step up such aid.
The Kenyan President was the first of several speakers to
address the meeting organised as a platform for the public
sector in Africa and private investors from across the world,
to discuss funding for NEPAD.
Several Heads of State were present at the opening, but
conspicuously absent were Presidents Abdelaziz Bouteflika of
Algeria, Olusegun Obsanjo of Nigeria and Thabo Mbeki of South
Africa, who were the main architects of NEPAD along with
President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.
Obasanjo, represented by his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, was
hosting visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Abuja, while
Mbeki, represented by Vice President Jacob Zuma, was apparently
pre-occupied with the Inter-Congolese talks underway in
Sun City.
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| Dakar - 15/04/2002 |
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