Summit Tries To Promote Africa
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February 18, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Africa-Summit.html
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Africa needs greater cooperation from the United
States and others if the continent is to overcome its problems, a re-
gional leader says.
"Little urgency is given to our problems and when assistance is re-
ceived, it is relatively too little and often too late," Salim A.
Salim, secretary general of the Organization of African Unity, said
Thursday at the National Summit on Africa.
Salim suggested the world uses "a double standard ... when addressing
the problems of Africa." And he called for "a firmer bond of coopera-
tion and partnership" between the people of Africa and those of the
United States.
He was talking to a sympathetic audience. The summit, continuing to-
day, gathered some 2,000 American blacks and others who are advocat-
ing more trade, aid investment and other programs for a continent
they say has long been ignored and maligned.
Under the motto "Africa matters," organizers have been drafting and
are expected to approve on their closing day Sunday a plan of action
they hope the U.S. government will incorporate into its policy to-
wards Africa.
They also have been working to unify and strengthen the lobby for Af-
rica in America and improve Africa's image. And they have the backing
of President Clinton, who they say has done more for Africa than any
previous U.S. leader.
"For too long, the African people have lacked for friends and al-
lies," Clinton said in a speech to the summit.
Clinton said globalization, among other things, demands more atten-
tion to the 54 nations of Africa. Some countries have growing econo-
mies and have made advances towards democracy, while others are mired
in strife and the majority of the continent's 700 million people are
trapped in poverty.
He said that the United States has worked on peacekeeping, conflict
resolution, education and economic revitalization since his historic
1998 visit to Africa.
But, he said, progress on the continent depends "fundamentally and
first" on whether African leaders put the best interests of their
people ahead of political concerns.
"These things cannot be imported, and they cannot be imposed from
outside," Clinton said.
Sitting to his right as he spoke was Kenyan President Daniel arap
Moi, who has squelched opposition and free press. The World Bank and
International Monetary Fund froze funding in 1997, citing corruption
and a lack of accountability in the government.
After his speech, Clinton met privately with the Kenyan leader and
"delivered a very stern message about the need for constitutional and
economic reforms to move forward," National Security Council spokes-
man David Leavy said. "And we have made anti-corruption a key pillar
of our Africa policy."
Clinton avoided Kenya on his 1998 Africa trip to reinforce that mes-
sage. A summit organizer said privately that Moi, not a speaker at
Thursday's session and not scheduled to sit at the head table, was
seated there "because he asked -- he wanted to sit next to" Clinton -
- and organizers didn't want to refuse him.
At the other side of the dais was Atiku Abubakar, vice president of
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, a major supplier of U.S. oil,
and the linchpin in Clinton's policy.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright lauded Nigeria's ongoing ef-
forts to build democracy and said the nation "has the potential to
lead all of West Africa in the direction of peace, democracy and the
rule of law."
In the face of Africa's problems, she said, "We should roll up our
sleeves, not throw up our hands."
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
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