African states seek own solutions in world crisis

CAIRO,  (Reuters) – Africa must seek to solve its own  problems as the global economic crisis limits the ability of  more developed countries to follow through on aid pledges,  African ministers told a conference in Cairo.

But officials and delegates said international bodies must  make good on recent pledges to help Africa, which has been  roiled by last year’s sharp food price rises and fluctuating  commodity markets.

“We know the IMF has additional resources. Now it is a  question of facilitating access for the African countries to  those resources. We are hoping this will happen over the course  of this year,” said Abdoulie Janneh, executive secretary of the  United Nation’s Economic Commission for Africa.

Lending by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Africa  is set to double this year. In the first five months of 2009,  the IMF committed about $1.6 billion to the continent.

Many delegates said their countries were still waiting to  learn what share they would receive and under what conditions.

Egypt’s finance minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who also  chairs the IMF’s policy setting committee, called on African  countries to realistically assess the likelihood the continent  would remain a top priority for a global system reeling from the  worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.   “Let’s not fool ourselves. The developed countries are  concerned mostly with solving their own problems,” Boutros-Ghali  said, adding that while emerging economies are widely seen as  key to global recovery, it is large economies such as China,  India, Brazil that are in focus.

“We are on our own,” Boutros-Ghali said. “Unless we do it,  nobody is going to do it for us. And I am a firm believer in the  capacities of this continent to be able to pull itself up (with)  its own bootstraps,” he said.

Momodu Kargbo, Sierre Leone’s deputy finance minister, told  Reuters that external assistance, while still necessary to get  his country back on its feet after years of civil war, was not  the primary focus of his government.

“Increasingly we have to depend on ourselves for support  because one thing that is lacking with aid is predictability,”  he said.

Ethiopia’s finance minister agreed with the sentiment, but  said Africa’s needs were dire and required short-term help.  “We have to be practical. Most African countries at this  critical time need external assistance. The international  community made a commitment (and) we have to push, we have to  get additional resources,” Sofian Ahmed said.

G20 leaders agreed $1.1 trillion extra funding for the IMF  at a summit in London in April. Soon after, a bank lobby group  said the IMF should push for countries to approve the money  within 90 days of the summit, or by July 2.
The U.N.’s Janneh said delegates at the Cairo conference  were emphasising two points — that the international community  must fulfil its commitments and that Africa must not rely on  receiving the aid.

“We are getting support and understanding from the  international community but this is a global crisis and  therefore it calls for global action,” he said. “But within that  they want to emphasise the need for Africa to take the  responsibility to fix Africa.”