Tanzania Urges African Nations to Demand Greater Access to Rich MarketsTanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa has urged African countries to stand together in demanding greater access to the markets of rich countries and increased aid flows, newspapers in Dar es Salaam reported on Sunday.Speaking at an official dinner he hosted in honor of visiting Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi at the State House here on Saturday night, Mkapa warned that Africa was likely to be the only continent where poverty would increase in the new century. "We must stand together in rightly demanding, not only greater access to the markets of rich countries for both primary and value added commodities, but increased aid flows as well as addressing the supply side constraints that hamper our productivity and competitiveness, and escalate our transaction costs," the president was quoted as saying. Unless there was greater political will in the rich industrialized countries to intervene in a significant way, he said, as far as Africa was concerned, none of the global poverty reduction targets would be met. "There is no point in opening up markets if there are no investments in poor countries that create jobs and produce quality and competitive products to take advantage of the market access made available," said Mkapa. He added that African countries should also demand fairer treatment regarding the primary commodities on which they depend for some 80 percent of their export earnings. "As of now our poor farmers are exposed to a ruthless external market environment dominated by big traders that leave us short- changed," said the president. Mkapa said that since what needs to be done to help Africa was now largely understood and accepted, what is needed is the political will in rich countries "to do justice to us." Africans, Mkapa said, should also fulfill their side of the bargain by entrenching good governance, by ensuring political stability and minimizing political risks, and by getting their vision and priorities right. "We must always agitate for the emergence of such political will," he emphasized, noting that African economies could not prosper in a hostile or unfair external environment. Meanwhile, Mkapa also congratulated the Ethiopian prime minister on his efforts to bring the tragic war between Ethiopia and Eritrea to an end, and build the foundations of a democratic culture and a growing economy in Ethiopia. Zenawi arrived here Saturday for a four-day official visit, which is said to be aimed at strengthening bilateral ties. |
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