The NEPAD summit in Sharm El-Sheikh provides an opportunity to evaluate the experience of an initiative touted as Africa's blueprint for economic survival, writes Gamal Nkrumah from Sharm El-Sheikh The onus is now on African leaders to deliver economic growth and improved health and educational services, the standards of which have plummeted in the last three decades across much of Africa. That, at least, appeared to be the context within which African heads of state and government converged on the Red Sea resort of Sharm El- Sheikh on Tuesday for the summit meeting of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), widely acclaimed as a blueprint for continental economic survival. The hope is that NEPAD -- officially-sanctioned by the African Union (AU), the body that groups 53 African states -- will alleviate poverty and underdevelopment in Africa. Egypt, one of the five founders of NEPAD, is making strenuous efforts to improve trade and economic ties with African countries. In his keynote address on Tuesday to the NEPAD summit President Hosni Mubarak stressed that Egypt was proud to host the NEPAD summit. He underlined the symbolic importance of the venue of the summit. Sharm El-Sheikh, situated at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, is Africa's gateway to the east. It is a city that was long under Israeli occupation and only returned to Egyptian sovereignty after the signing of the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel in 1979. As such Sharm El-Sheikh stands as a powerful symbol for peace. Indeed, its main thoroughfare is called Peace Road. "We in Egypt have much experience in reconstruction in the past two decades and we would like to share with our African brethren our experiences of rebuilding the infrastructure." Mubarak gave the example of the once war-ravaged Sinai Peninsula, which now stands as a beacon of economic prosperity, generated in the main by the development of tourism. There are many areas of common interest and cooperation between Egypt and other African countries, particularly in the fields of energy, electricity and power generation, transport, telecommunications and water resources. Mubarak also cited agriculture as one of the most important areas in which Egypt and other African countries might cooperate. Here again the experience of agricultural development and land reclamation in Sinai might be of interest to African countries facing desertification. In Sinai parts of the desert have been turned into fertile agricultural land. Agriculture, Mubarak said, was the cornerstone of African development. "Agriculture is the main sector and economic activity in most African countries. Most of Africa's labour force is employed in the agricultural sector." It is for precisely this reason that NEPAD's agricultural policies have come under critical scrutiny. NEPAD is a continental grouping committed to deregulation, privatisation and political liberalisation. Its critics argue that Africa is integrated into the world economy in such a manner as to ensure that it remains economically vulnerable. African economies are dependent on the export of agricultural and mineral commodities. The continent's reliance on the export of raw materials leaves it prone to the vagaries of volatile commodity markets. NEPAD is often criticised for not tackling the issue of agricultural subsidies by wealthy Western countries, the massive farm subsidies granted by the United States and the European Union being a major cause of complaint among African exporters. African countries such as Egypt and Sudan, that two decades ago were major exporters of high quality cotton, have witnessed the collapse of their local cotton industries. The $2 billion in subsidies received by US cotton farmers every year has led to overproduction in the US and a downward spiral in world cotton prices. African governments are demanding fairer trade practices. The reduction of subsidies in the US and the EU would curtail Western farmers' incentives to increase production and increase the opportunity for African producers to penetrate Western markets. Conflict resolution was also on the agenda of the one-day NEPAD summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. There is a growing realisation that ongoing conflicts are one of the main causes of Africa's socio- economic underdevelopment and poverty. "Peace," President Mubarak stressed, was the "foundation for socio-economic development" and African countries had taken "great strides and made palpable progress" in conflict resolution. He mentioned the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), considered something of a hot potato in some African governmental circles, and stressed that Africa had embarked on an irreversible process of political reform and democratisation and that there could be no turning back. The APRM encourages countries to apply a variety of monitoring procedures to assess the progress made in the fields of political reform and democratisation, and is supported by influential and high-profile African leaders such as Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. "Let me express satisfaction at the increased number of countries that have voluntary signed up to the mechanism. It augurs well for our development," Obasanjo told delegates at the Sharm El-Sheikh summit on Tuesday. "As you will recall," the Nigerian president said, "I undertook to convene a workshop of the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Steering Committee and the African Development Bank to explore mechanisms for capacity building of regional economic communities and fast-tracking the implementation of key NEPAD infrastructural projects." The meeting convened in the Nigerian capital Abuja on 8-10 March. "Details of the outcome of the workshop will be presented as part of the progress report of the NEPAD Secretariat," Obasanjo said. Under NEPAD the African continent is divided into five regional economic communities to facilitate the implementation of NEPAD's overall plan. He cited the example of e-schools in West Africa, a scheme that will be expanded to cover 20 West African countries. Promoting the use of information technology among young people was, he argued, the best way to ensure long-term capacity building and development. The Nigerian president also hailed efforts at fostering peace in Africa, citing several ongoing conflict resolution efforts. "This is evidenced by the peaceful resolution of the situation in Togo earlier this year, as well as ongoing efforts in Ivory Coast, Darfur and GuineaBissau." Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi also expressed satisfaction with the progress made since NEPAD's inception four years ago. He said the international climate is conducive to lending a helping hand to African countries. "It is important that we harness the opportunities presented by the international community for increased support for Africa's growth and development," he said.
