National Assembly-Seychelles supports Commission for Africa report - Minister Pillay |09 April 2005

The need for Seychelles to support this report was highlighted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Patrick Pillay, in a statement delivered to the National Assembly on Tuesday. (The statement about the Commission for Africa report was made at the request of President of Seychelles, Mr James Michel.).

It was Deputy Speaker Shelton Jolicoeur who presided over the assembly sitting. At the beginning of Tuesday’s sitting, members observed one minute of silence in the memory of the late Pope John Paul 11, who passed away on Saturday.

In his statement, Minister Pillay said the report, completed after a series of consultations with African governments and international community, examines in depth the situation on the African continent and recommends the way forward.

The situation on the African continent, he said, was gradually changing for the better, with governments embarking on new development initiatives and accelerating efforts to carry out necessary reforms.

Minister Pillay said Seychelles is playing a significant role in this process, as it has accelerated its reform programme to improve management of public affairs, modernise its legislation, liberalise the economy and encourage transparency and good governance, among other measures.

He also spoke about Seychelles's achievements over the past years, for instance access to drinkable water, environment sustainability,  and its success story in education.

"It is of primary importance that we as Africans let our voice be heard clearly about the situation that concerns us and emphasise on specific challenges," he said, adding that we (African nations) have to overcome several obstacles such as limited human resources, dependency on import, small economy, unfavourable trade relations compared to the rest of the world, reduction in agricultural production and problems of diseases.

In line with efforts being made to create a more prosperous Africa, Minister Pillay said the Commission believed that now was the appropriate moment for the international community to bolster their contribution and support Africa.

In particular, he added, they should  recognise and support the important role of the African Union and Nepad (New Partnership for African Development) in promoting development and encouraging peace and security on the continent.

The international community is also being asked to support regional integration effort by Africa, African initiatives and strategies against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, and to be more generous in their donations. 

The Commission also says a more collective and serious effort is required to resolve Africa's huge debt problems and recommends more equitable trade opportunities and better access for Africa to developed countries' markets.

The Commission has indicated that for Africa to achieve the Millennium Goals, assistance given to the Sub-Saharan countries needs to increase from around US $25 billion last year to US $37 billion this year, and to gradually arrive at US $73 billion by 2015.

Minister Pillay said it was therefore essential for the international community to invest financially to contribute to the desired changes and the progress to achieving these goals.

"When giving assistance, the international community should make a greater effort to understand the values, norms and the elegance of the African culture and be more flexible and humble in their decision-making," he stated.

At the end of the presentation a few members gave their views and obtained clarification on certain issues.