Delegates to EU-Africa summit to be known at eleventh hour
ECOWAS Ministers affirm their commitment to fast track
Cocoa Council makes declaration on current
cocoa market situation
Delegates to EU-Africa summit to be known at eleventh hour
Brussels
(Belgium) 29 March 2000
Organisers
of the first summit between the European Union and Africa will have to wait
until the last minute to know for sure who is coming next week, EU sources said
on Monday.
They said
many African leaders invited to the 3-4 April gathering in Cairo were "not
telling for security reasons" whether or not they were going to attend.
Their
secrecy was a reflection of Africa's chronic political instability, which the
Europeans are keen to address.
But the
source said most of the EU's 15 heads of state or government and most of the
leaders of Africa's 52 countries were likely to turn up for the unprecedented
gathering.
Symbolism,
however, looks likely to surpass substance.
Individual
speaking time will eat up a sizeable chunk of the 10 hours of plenary sessions
over the two days.
After six
weeks of what an EU official called "laborious" preparation, African
and European delegates for the summit have narrowed their differences on what
to discuss and largely compromised on an agenda.
The EU's
desired emphasis on political issues, democracy, human rights, good governance
and conflict prevention will share equal time with Africa's stress on social
and economic development and aid, the EU official indicated.
Final
details of a summit declaration and a "plan of action" will be issued
out by foreign ministers meeting in Cairo over the weekend, said the official,
who did not wish to be quoted.
The summit
is intended to promote Africa's potential, pave the way to closer integration
with Europe, its main trading partner, and generally give new strategic
dimensions to the relationship.
After a
decade largely devoted to embracing the former communist states of eastern
Europe following the end of the Cold War, the EU aims to reassure Africa it is
not being forgotten, a message already conveyed by the United States with
President Bill Clinton's tour of the continent last year.
The
EU-Africa summit was first proposed by Portugal in 1996 but the 15-member bloc
has taken longer than Washington to put its new Africa diplomacy into practice.
The event was only confirmed less than two months ago.
GRi../
ECOWAS Ministers affirm their commitment to fast track
Abuja
(Nigeria) 29 March 2000
ECOWAS
Ministers meeting in the Nigeria capital, Abuja ahead of a mini summit of six
member countries, have affirmed their commitment to integrate the sub-region
through the adoption of the fast track approach initiated by Ghana and Nigeria.
Ministers
from Ghana, Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin and host country Nigeria met for
long hours into the evening on Sunday to put finishing touches to proposals for
the adoption of an effective borderless zone in the framework of regional
integration.
Prominent
among the issues that have received wide consensus are the need to adopt a free
trade and movement of the peoples, promote the private sector and the creation
of a second monetary zone.
ECOWAS
has expressed optimism that the proposed protocols are achievable and that a
second monetary zone could be established by 2004.
It
is quite feasible to start the West African borderless zone, ECOWAS executive
Secretary Lansana Kouyate reaffirmed in his opening address to the Ministers.
The
Ministers proposals will be put before the summit of Heads of State, which
opens on Monday evening. It is on the
theme: "The creation of a borderless zone".
Vice
President John Atta Mills who arrived in Abuja on Sunday to a red-carpet
reception by the host government is leading Ghana's delegation.
The
others are Mr Kwamena Ahwoi, Minister for Economic Co-operation and Regional
Integration, Mr Peter Wiafe Pepera, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries, Mr
Kweku Bonful, Deputy minister of Interior and Mr Joseph Awa Laryea, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Prof.
Mills also held closed-door talks with President Olusegun Obasanjo that foreign
officials said was on bilateral relations and the role of the two countries in
the integration process.
Ghana
and Nigeria are at the fore-front accelerating the implementation of the fast
track approach and have shared joint experiences with the other member states
at various levels since the fast track protocol was initiated in December last
year.
At
the end of their meeting in Bamako, Mali in January this year, the ministers
pledged to make the sub-region a land of law and order.
Democracy,
peace and security, popularise and achieve socio-economic integration,
alleviate poverty among the people and create a borderless zone to enhance free
trade and movement.
Apart
from pushing these objectives forward, the Abuja summit is expected to
vigorously pursue infrastructural development as basis for development.
Mr
Pepera who represented Ghana at a review meeting on the free trade area, told
reporters that the meeting recommended that relevant instructions should be
given to immigration officials in the region to maximise the 90-day period of
stay to ECOWAS citizens by April 15, this year.
GRi…/
Accra {Greater Accra} 25 March 2000.
The International Cocoa Council (ICCO) has called on the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist cocoa producing
countries to find suitable ways of marketing their produce in the framework of
a liberalised system.
The ICCO said this would create confidence between operators
in the cocoa production chain, avoid the detrimental effects of exclusive spot
markets and establish fully the conditions for forward sales to avoid the
downward pressure of the cocoa market.
In an eight-point declaration issued after the 61st regular
meeting of the Council in London and released in Accra on Friday, it said the
Bank must also improve prospects for the international cocoa market in the
medium to long-term period through the promotion of cocoa consumption in the
areas of low consumption, and in producing countries themselves in liaison with
the private sector.
Mr. J. H. Newman, Chief Executive of COCOBOD, led the
board's three-man delegation. Also in attendance was Mr. J.E.K. Aggrey-Orleans,
Ghana's High Commissioner to London.
The declaration, which was arrived at against the background
of the current market situation of plummeting prices, asked the World Bank to
encourage policies for diversification in order to reduce the impact of price
fluctuations on the economies of producing countries.
The declaration emphasised the need to continue the
application of the production-management plan within the International Cocoa
Agreement leading to equilibrium between supply and demand at remunerative
prices.
In order to eliminate sub-grade cocoa from the chain and
improve quality in the short to medium-term, the Council requested the World
Bank and the IMF to take the necessary steps to foster co-operation between
producers and consumers.
The Council said the declaration was arrived at after considering
the drastic fall in prices to SDR 639 (569 pounds) per tonne of cocoa beans in
February 2000.
The figure is the lowest point in 27 years.
It said it also took the decision having reviewed the
current cocoa situation and noting that the evolution of the fundamental
parameters of the market cannot alone justify such drastic decrease in prices.
The meeting also considered the detrimental effect of the
situation on the cocoa economy, particularly in producing countries as well as
the near disappearance of forward sales in Cote d'Ivoire following full
liberalisation of the sector in that country that has accentuated the downward
pressure on prices.
The Council said the situation is a confirmation of fears it
expressed on the possible effects of liberalisation on the world cocoa economy
to the World Bank and IMF in 1995.
The Council, therefore, requested that the declaration be
transmitted to all members and observers and all lending institutions involved
in the cocoa sector and to organise appropriate contacts with those
institutions and countries concerned.
GRi../