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‘Seychelles is an enchanting country,’ says former Nigerian President Obasanjo |23 July 2016

Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Olusegan Obasanjo has described Seychelles as “an enchanting country” which countries from Africa and elsewhere should follow.

Mr Obasanjo made this remark in a press conference at the Savoy Resort & Spa in connection with the Afreximbank 23rd annual general meeting which took place here this week.

As part of the meeting, an Investment Forum and Exhibition was also held which showcased trading and investment opportunities as well as intra-Africa and regional trading potentials.

Among the various high personalities on the panels of discussion and presentation was the former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, who also paid a courtesy call on President James Michel earlier this week.

Mr Obansanjo gave his perspective, as a former head of state, on integrating Africa through trade – smooth sailing and stormy waters.

He believes economic integration in Africa calls for a multi-dimensional approach, including the use of trade. The trade, particularly intra-Africa trade proposition is based on its capacity to facilitate the development of intra-regional infrastructure, including roads, ports, and telecommunications all parts of trade-supporting infrastructure network. To him promoting intra-regional trade could contribute to addressing the continent’s infrastructure needs, while at the same time mitigating the continuous exposure to global volatility and adverse effects of trade shocks. He ascertained we can do more for Africa than we have done until now by making use of what we have to achieve what we need.

Freedom of movement of people was also a focal point of Mr Obasanjo’s intervention.

The president and chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank, Dr Benedict Oramah, was also present during the press conference where he talked on the meeting which he described as a planned event to contribute to ongoing discussion to assist the continent rethink its development and economic transformation path in short to medium-term.

And in tandem with this flow of tide, Dr Oramah said it was fitting to hold this years’ meeting in Seychelles under the theme ‘Africa’s New Economy: Intra-African Trade and the Blue Economy as Catalysts for Economic Transformation’.

The following are excerpts of the interview with both personalities:

 

Seychelles NATION: His Excellency and other dignitaries, welcome to Seychelles. His Excellency, what do you know and think about Seychelles?

 

H.E Obasanjo: When I was then President of Nigeria, I wanted to come here. On one occasion when President France Albert Rene was still in power I wanted to visit but unfortunately I couldn’t make it. On another occasion, I planned to come here for a holiday, I could not make it. But thanks to Afreximbank for making it possible for me on this occasion.

As I said after I called on your president (James Michel earlier this week) my impression of Seychelles is more enchanting than it has been described to me. To me it is like a paradise on earth. And there are many countries in Africa where one would take 25 minutes, 30 minutes to go from the sandy beach or the sea to mountain forests, to flat land. This is a country that is quietly making progress. You have this security and tranquility which is good. You should capitalise on this. What you have make use of it.

I still think this is a very enchanting country. You have a lot to offer. Please do not keep this under wraps. Let the rest of Africa and the rest of the world know what you have and enjoy it with you.

 

Nigerian Television: On the movement of goods, services and people, I think you would agree with me movements of goods from Europe to the continent of Africa is much easier than movements of goods within the sub-region of West Africa. What exactly is wrong and how can this issue be tackled. The former president talked about Africa having a passport being able to move within the continent freely. At the last AU meeting, African leaders launched an e-passport. How will this affect free movement?

 

H.E Obasanjo: What has hindered free movement of people or free movement of goods? I’ll put it bluntly: it’s corruption. If you are going from Lagos to Cotonou (Benin), there’s nothing as far as the policy or everything is concerned, to stop you. He mentioned several authorities present like police, health, immigration, customs, military on the Nigerian side. On the Benin side you will start with customs, gender marine, immigration… these things are absolutely not necessary. They are not there in the ECOWAS policy. As I said earlier on they will say this and that to you as they do not want you to carry disease. But putting health checks on the road from Benin to Nigeria does not stop any disease. Most prominent disease people carry along in West Africa is malaria. And you can’t stop malaria. And if a man is carrying malaria assuming you know, do you stop him? Do you prevent him from going? When Boko Haram wanted to move, they moved freely. So what should we do? So these so-called non-tarriff barriers, is too much. You don’t have to get a leader to say ‘look, enough is enough’. This should stop. I think the custom posts between our two countries should do only one thing – register the number of vehicles, register goods so that we have records. Other than that there should be no other hindrance. And I believe that’s what we should do in the five regional economic communities.

We should take in consideration, social, cultural, all aspects of our lives and our development in Africa. We took it upon ourselves to reform, to do peer review, peer sanctions of ourselves and to integrate our economy. Some people believe in political integration, some economic integration. I believe firmly these economic communities like building blocks - ECOWAS, SADC, East African Economic Community and the Mahgreb – are building blocks, are making progress. The African parliament has already chosen a location for an African Central Bank. We have ADB, Afreximbank and other such institutions we should continue to nurture.

 

Nigerian Television: The second question to Dr Omarah. Yesterday the former president talked about how development banks can help small industries in Africa to grow to the global status. What has Afreximbank done; what it intends to do in this regard?

 

Dr Omarah: A land full of stability, a land full of peace, people living calmly, quietly, we can progress.

 

Nigerian Television: What you are doing for SMEs, for the growth of SMEs?

 

Dr Omarah: First of all you have to understand one principle. SMEs cannot export. SMEs cannot compete because they are small. They are not equipped to manage the different risks that exporting entails. They do not have the volumes that makes export profitable. So what normally happens in countries there are SMEs who participate in trade. Those countries also have export trading competence. They aggregate what SMEs produce and export them. So SMES cooperate in what we call export supply chain. And that’s the model we are taking. We understand that SMEs can produce goods efficiently. We just need to reduce the capital risks of certain objects. Why we are going through the industrial path route where we deal with the infrastructure deficit; get certification for the whole party instead of each country going individually to get certified. We are also supporting the emergence of extra trading companies which take the cost to market for them so the SMEs can produce efficiently and also participate in the global supply chain.

 

Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC): Apart from serving as president of your country you also led the African Union (AU). So what are the achievements you would say where you left up to now and how you think the AU can help African countries to boost trade?

 

 H.E Obasanjo:  Going back to innovation we brought in when we changed the OAU (Organisation of African Unity) to AU we put in the constitutive act power of intervention, the power to intervene in a country if it is treating its own citizens badly. You must follow the constitution. If you have a change of government without following the constitution, AU will not admit you. Social and economic developments have also been brought in and the number of seats at the AU can be counted on your fingertips.  Thirty years ago democracy was an exception. Today lack of democracy is an exception. We are not where we would have liked to be as we are having elections that are being disputed. But to me a disputed election is better than no election. But we are making progress.

 

SBC: Dr Oramah, a lot of discussions and recommendations during the different forums . What’s next and how Afreximbank intends to proceed?

 

Dr Oramah:  So many ideas have been given; so many things have been said. All these have been recorded and they will find their way in our strategy so to say.

 

 

 

 

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