Zambian leader says Africa has been used as a "guinea pig"

LUSAKA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Michael Sata said Africa has been made into a "guinea pig" in the last 50 years by developed nations that pretend to help transform the continent, the Zambia Daily Mail reported on Monday.

"In the last 50 years Africa has been made a guinea pig, we have all the resources, people come and take all our resources and we are having a conference here to help Africa," Sata was quoted as saying by the paper in remarks made during the on-going Fifth Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD V) in Yokohama, Japan. Sata, who is known for raising controversies at international meetings, said while Africa knows its problems, developed nations have used the continent as a "guinea pig" for taking raw materials to enrich themselves.

"We know the problems in Africa and the reason is the so-called developed countries that used Africa as a guinea pig for taking our raw materials for developing themselves. And they just come and pick all our raw materials because in Africa we still have plenty of raw materials," he said.

The Zambian leader said Africa should not rely on others to help it but should rely on itself, adding that African leaders understand better the problems of infant and maternal mortality on the continent. He has since called on the continent to free itself from developed countries that have exploited its mineral resources for a long time.

"All these are all our personal problems as Africa. And it is not the conference that will help us. We have heard all sorts of stories," the Zambian leader," he added. The Zambian leader further said his administration was trying to invest more in education because education was a prerequisite to national development.

The TICAD conference has attracted 39 African leaders and 51 delegates. TICAD, which is a high-level conference to which all African leaders in principle are invited to discuss how to promote African development, takes place every five years. The theme for this year is "Towards the post-2015 Development Agenda."

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