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Commonwealth Lawmakers Urged to Support African Development
Nigerian Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim Wednesday urged the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to organize an international conference on financing the development of Africa.
Speaking at the opening of the 32nd conference of the CPA for the African region in the capital Abuja, Anyim said the conference should support the new African Initiative being pioneered by African leaders.
"We should not see the development of Africa as mere largesse, as it will definitely have direct benefit on the industrialized nations," Anyim said.
The enlargement of incomes in Africa and other developing nations will bring about greater absorption of industrial goods and machinery from the developed nations, stimulate their economic activities and ease their unemployment problems, the president explained.
He also urged the parliamentarians to focus on issues that impede the efforts of African nations at integration and development.
"Conflicts which occur frequently in our region pose the greatest threat to development. Let me hasten to say here that conflicts do not necessarily arise from variety of desires and interests," Anyim pointed out.
He said that it is the parliamentarians' responsibility to harmonize such desires and interests so that "we can bring about equitable distribution of resources".
The CPA should fashion out a common African response strategy for assistance to victims of natural and man-made disasters to minimize the impact on their socio-economic lives, he said.
Over 160 parliamentarians from 19 African CPA countries are attending the conference with the theme "The role of Parliaments in the implementation of the millennium African renewal program", which was also attended by observers from non-Africa CPA countries, including seven members of the British CPA branch.
The conference, which is scheduled to conclude on Saturday, covers the issues of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, the general poverty in the region and the economic standstill on the continent among others.
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