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Date
: 15/10/2003
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: Address on African Renaissance, University of
Bosphorus, Turkey
ADDRESS BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA ON THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE,
University of Bosphorus, Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, 15 October
2003
Honourable Chair,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great honour to address this august audience on the topic
of the African Renaissance and the New Partnership for Africa's
Development, the latter also commonly known as NEPAD.
I am mindful of the rich and ancient history of Turkey, which has
spanned the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. It is therefore
appropriate that we discuss the revival of the African continent on
these shores today.
Honourable Chair,
The African Renaissance entails the reclaiming of the heritage of
the people of the African continent and the socio-economic and
political renewal of Africa. The collapse of the apartheid regime
and the democratisation of South Africa in 1994 revived the call
for the renewal of Africa.
This call coincided with the ascendancy of a new progressive
leadership in Africa who are committed to the revitalisation of
Africa so that Africa can take its rightful place in international
affairs. These leaders have decided that Africans themselves will
no longer charter the future of Africa outside Africa.
The vision of the African Renaissance acted as a catalyst for the
transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the
current continental body, the African Union (AU), which was
launched in South Africa in July 2002.
The AU is the vehicle for the greater social, political and
economic integration of Africa. In this regard, there are
similarities with the European Union's (EU) objectives in the
European context.
Honourable Chair,
When we speak of an African Renaissance, we mean the ending of
poverty and underdevelopment and the reconstruction of a better
life for all. African Renaissance also entails the reaffirmation of
our pride as Africans with a culture and identity that define our
collective humanity and humaneness.
The African Renaissance provides a philosophical framework for
Africans in the continent and those in the Diaspora within which to
define themselves.
The African Renaissance also advances the spirit of Pan-Africanism,
which emanates from the vision of the great sons of Africa, such as
prominent African Diaspora leader WEB Du Bois; Pixley ka Isaka
Seme; Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana; Haile Selassie of Ethiopia; Julius
Nyerere of Tanzania; Albert Luthuli; Oliver Tambo and former
President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, amongst others.
As Africans, we have taken a conscious position to design and
implement our own plan with programmes that will restore Africa to
its rightful place in the global political, security and economic
system, against the background of this philosophy of the African
Renaissance.
African Renaissance is a fundamental transformation that is
anchored in the principles of African ownership and leadership,
self-reliance as well as a new partnership with the developed and
developing world, which is based on mutual respect, responsibility
and accountability. Africans firmly believe that the establishment
of the AU and the adoption of NEPAD constitute historic landmarks
in the social, political and economic development of Africa.
The Constitutive Act of the AU provides for greater political unity
and integration and commits African countries to principles of
democracy, human rights, good governance, gender equality and
people-centred development.
South Africa had the honour of being the first Chair of the AU and
has handed over the Chair to Mozambique at the Second AU Summit
held in Maputo in July 2003.
The AU has prioritised peace and security and the ending of
conflicts on the continent, for there can be no African Renaissance
while conflicts ravage parts of the continent. This is illustrated
by the AU's involvement in peacekeeping and peacemaking missions in
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Ethiopia/Eritrea
and Liberia. You would be aware of South Africa's contribution to
these missions.
The AU, through the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
(IGAD) process, is also involved in resolving the long-standing
conflict in the Sudan. The African Union is also assisting in the
democratisation process in the Comoros.
Honourable Chair,
A key part of the African Renaissance is the drive to achieve
sustainable development in Africa, to extricate the continent from
a cycle of poverty and underdevelopment, through NEPAD.
The policy framework of NEPAD has two major pillars - one is
internally focussed whilst the other is focussed on partnership
with the rest of the world. The internal focus includes the
consolidation of democracy and good governance, adoption of
successful developmental practices and the strengthening of
Intra-African economic integration.
The external focus is aimed at addressing the inequitable
international world order that continues to undermine Africa's
developmental effort. The recent events at the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) Doha Development Round talks in Cancun, Mexico,
are a stark reminder of this reality and the need for countries,
both in the developed and developing worlds, to stand together to
change this state of affairs.
NEPAD has been endorsed by the international community as the
socio-economic development programme for Africa.
Naturally, the comparative advantages of each African country and
sub-region will determine the priority areas on which they will
focus. But NEPAD provides a common vision for transforming the
whole continent towards a common direction and goal.
Similarly, each international organisation and development partner
will focus on those priority areas of NEPAD where they enjoy
comparative advantages. In this regard, the G8 countries, in
consultation with Africa, have developed the G8 Action Plan for
Africa.
Likewise, NEPAD is emerging as a major mechanism for South-South
co-operation and partnership; for example, the China-Africa Forum
and the Asian African Sub-regional Organisations Conference
(AASROC) between the AU and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).
In addition to the priority areas already mentioned, NEPAD includes
an innovative mechanism, namely the African Peer Review Mechanism
(APRM), which is intended to assist countries through the sharing
of experiences, information and best practices to ensure good
governance and sustainable development. Sixteen African countries
have voluntarily indicated they would participate in a peer review.
A fifteen-member Heads of State and Government Implementation
Committee (HSGIC), constituted from AU member states, oversee the
NEPAD implementation process.
The implementation is moving at great speed and information on
NEPAD projects is available through the South African embassy in
Ankara.
Honourable Chair, given Turkey's geo-strategic location, it is not
surprising that Turkey has maintained strong historical relations
with Africa. The first Turkish diplomatic mission in Sub-Saharan
Africa was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as far back as
1926.
It is important to us that this country maintains twelve diplomatic
missions in Africa and that there are plans to expand the
Africa-Turkey relationship as spelled out in Turkey's Action Plan
of Opening up to Africa adopted in 1998.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Turkey's
important contribution to the advancement of the African
Renaissance.
Turkey has participated in the United Nations peacekeeping missions
in Africa, for example in Somalia, DRC, Sierra Leone, Angola,
Rwanda, Central African Republic and Western Sahara.
I would also like to express Africa's appreciation for the
contribution of the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) to international
aid campaigns in support of the African continent.
Africa is also aware of Turkey's expressed support for
developmental finance for NEPAD within the context of the
Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD). We look forward to Turkey's
involvement and active participation in the various NEPAD
projects.
We believe we are breathing life into the ideals of the founding
fathers of Africa. They had a vision of an Africa whose peoples
would be free from conflict and suffering, poverty, disease and
whose right to human dignity would be restored and respected.
We believe the road to achieving these goals is paved with
opportunities and possibilities, and that given the vision and
programmes that are in place or being developed, the African
Renaissance will be achieved in our lifetime.
We trust that you will continue to travel with us on this journey
of building a new Africa.
I thank you
Issued by: The Presidency
15 October 2003
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