Président de la Commission de l’Union Africaine (depuis le 1er. février 2008)
Président du Ghana,
Président de l’Union Africaine (depuis janvier 2007)
NEPAD Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Firmino Mucavele, speaking to journalists covering the second NEPAD multi-stakeholders meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 1 November 2006 said such a move is vital for the programme to benefit all Africans.
He cited the NEPAD principles as ownership, self-reliance, partnership and self-confidence, which he said are crucial for any development project to be sustainable and beneficial to the implementing nation.
“Introducing the NEPAD principles and values into national programmes is the quickest way for countries to have NEPAD projects”.
He said that through NEPAD principles Senegal had managed to acquire cassava production and processing technology from Nigeria, a country where the production process is very advanced.
Professor Mucavele said there is a need for African countries to understand the philosophy of self-reliance, which means that a country counts on its own resources in a partnership.
He refuted claims that the five-year old NEPAD programme is not progressing, saying such claims come from people who lack ideas and are waiting for outsiders to make things happen.
Professor Mucavele challenged African governments to give priority to using the available resources in their countries instead of concentrating on mobilising financial resources from outside.
“The problem of Africa is that we are not ready to use our own resources and accumulate capital and move from there,” Professor Mucavele said. “We only look for financial capital, we do not look to natural resources capital and human resources.”
Commenting on the concentration of NEPAD programmes in a few African nations, the NEPAD chief said such countries have moved ahead of others in their ownership of the continental process.
He cited Nigeria and South Africa and said they are fully engaged in the implementation of NEPAD programmes and are abiding by its principles. He said there is no magic in gaining NEPAD support, what is needed is commitment from the country itself.
“If you come to Nigeria you will see there is a network of NEPAD institutions. There is a concerted effort and they have integrated projects on health and education. They have assumed their own responsibility.
“There are countries that have no initiatives in terms of their governments introducing NEPAD values and principles into their programmes. They are waiting for someone to come from outside to do something. It is not possible”.
Professor Mucavele said African governments must come up with home-grown programmes that reflect the needs of their nations, adding that such programs will not lack support as long as they reflect NEPAD principles.
He called upon Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to help build the capacity of national governments for project development, saying lack of expertise in preparing project documents has made it impossible for some African nations to access the infrastructure facility available at the African Development Bank.
Source : nepad news, novembre 3, 2006