Issued by: Office of the Deputy President T.M. Mbeki
23 June 1998
FORUM HEADS OF STATE DAKAR, 20 - 21 JUNE 1998
Dakar, 21 June 1998 - At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Senegal, the Heads of State of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Sao Tome et Principe and Sierra Leone, the Vice President of the South African Republic and the President of the world Bank participated in Dakar on 20 and 21 June 1998 in a forum of development in Africa. This important meeting was a continuation of the forum that took place in Kampala (Uganda) on 23 and 24 January.
The principal aim of the Dakar forum, like the meeting in Kampala, was to share development experiences and agree on a common development vision for Africa.
The proceedings, which took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere, focused on the following issues:
The prioritisation of these themes took into account the global environment as well as their importance to any meaningful strategy for development in Africa.
The Dakar meeting, through its high-level contacts and discussions, has contributed to strengthening the new partnership between Africa and the World Bank. The African leaders and the President of the world Bank Group restated the importance of meetings of this kind. They provide an opportunity to define, in the most consensual manner possible, both regional development strategies and the type of partnerships that would facilitate their implementation.
Improved prospects of development
The forum took a retrospective view of a region in deep crisis during the 1980s and of the social and economic recovery that started in the middle of the 1990s and resulted in economic growth rates that have been higher than population growth rates since 1995. Although Africa has made considerable progress towards democratisation, the leaders emphasised that the region needed peace and stability to consolidate its gains and achieve new progress.
They noted that there are several preconditions for sustainable development. These include equal distribution of available resources and a viable agriculture sector that provides meaningful employment for rural populations and ensures food security. Similarly industrialisation and adding value to raw materials, development of education and technology, satisfaction of basic health and nutrition needs, as well as infrastructure development in the areas of transport and communications, water and energy, should be top level priorities.
The Forum participants stressed the need to promote the private sector, particularly thrugh an appropriate legal environment.
Beyond the objective of universal education at the end of the next decade and access to basic health care, human resource development needs to be strengthened through improved technical and vocational education and more effective use of local skills.
As for the design and conduct of programmes supported by partners in development, it was recommended that they should reflect social realities and take into account priorities defined by the State. Furthermore, the coordination and consistency of interventions should be improved. In this respect, particular attention should be paid to countries coming out of conflict.
With regard to debt, the Heads of State and Government insisted on the need to pursue efforts at reduction and to widen the circle of beneficiaries.
Concerning the effectiveness of reforms and partnership building, Forum participants recognised that the ownership of policies, increased resource mobilisation and the development of absorptive capacities are principles to be promoted.
Towards globalisation
The African leaders and the President of the world Bank took note of the irreversible nature of globalisation. It is up to Africa to create the conditions for becoming a part of the globalisation process. This will essentially depend on the competitiveness of its economies and the adoption of successful industrialisation strategies.
The Forum also observed that meeting the challenges of globalisation would require strengthening the integration process. This may be carried out, on the one hand, through infrastructure development and on the other hand, through the determination of States to rationalise regional institutions and provide them with appropriate skills.
Finally, the leaders welcomed the World Bank initiative to fund cultural projects and help preserve African cultures and traditions threatened by globalisation.
Sustainable management of natural resources
While the economies of Sub-Saharan African countries still largely depend on natural resources and the majority of the population lives in rural areas and draws most of its income from agriculture, in recent decades, three trends have arisen that mutually reinforce each other: rapid population growth, stagnation of agricultural production and degradation of the environment.
It is becoming imperative that Sub-Saharan African countries effectively and efficiently manage their natural resources, especially their water resources, arable land and forest resources.
It is important to ensure equitable management of water resources, reconciling household use and economic use, particularly for irrigated agriculture.
the community-based and decentralised approach to natural resource management is a solution increasingly implemented to fight the degradation of these resources and to reduce poverty.
In the area of water resource management, the World Bank was invited to increase its support for regional cooperation among riverside countries, and develop village and pastoral infrastructures and irrigation networks.
Capacity building
Capacity building is an essential dimension of Africa's development vision. Taking it into account will improve institutions, practices and people's skills while enabling African countries to achieve their development objectives.
The importance of capacity building in Africa was confirmed by the participants. Three principles would have to be observed:
- capacity building in Africa should be the business of Africans themselves;
- expected support in this context should be perfectly integrated into the activities of the World Bank and other development partners;
- more efficient use of skills would necessitate a merit-based system.
The objectives pursued in capacity building are structured around:
- human resource development,
- proper management of public affairs,
- promotion of the private sector and foreign investments.
With respect to the Partnership for Capacity Building, it was agreed that the African Governors' initiative should be strongly supported and presented to the Boards of Administration of the World Bank following consultations between African Heads of State.
The capacity building process in Africa must rid itself of a certain number of obstacles and hindrances to development. To achieve this, emphasis should be laid on the following priority areas:
- Education
- Health
- Public affairs management
In this regard, the World Bank welcomed the proposal to develop ten-year programmes in key sectors such as education, health and transport and communications infrastructures.
It is important to note that the issue of aid effectiveness and partnership came up during discussions of the various themes.
Finally, a Follow-up Committee on the conclusions of the Dakar Forum was set up in liaison, with the President of the World Bank. It includes the following members:
- the Head of State of Senegal, representing West Africa, - the Head of State of Gabon, representing Central Africa, - the Head of State of Uganda, representing East Africa, - the Head of State of South Africa, representing Southern Africa.