Political will, stability crucial to African development

Political will, stability crucial to African development

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

BANDUNG (JP): Greater political commitment and stability are
two crucial factors to ensure sustainable development in African
states, officials from Asian and African states say.

After a three-day meeting here at the Merdeka Building, the
Asia Africa Forum on Thursday evening yielded the Bandung
Framework for Asia-Africa Cooperation which asserted that a
conducive environment is a pre-requisite for development.

Sustainable development "must be a product of political
commitment based on national consensus and must be inspired and
led by a creative and dedicated national leadership," were the
works of the communique issued at the end of the meeting.

The forum said development programs must be designed with
strategic priorities on stability, development and equity.

The chairman of the Forum and executive assistant of the Non-
Aligned Movement (NAM), Indonesia's Nana Sutresna, earlier
stressed the importance of political stability as a precursor to
acquiring development funding.

"The factor of political stability is vital for acquiring
development loans," Nana said.

The Forum, opened by President Soeharto on Monday, was
attended by officials from 43 African and 10 Asian countries.

The Forum was established as a follow up to the 1993 Tokyo
International Conference on African Development which emphasized
ways of sharing the Asian experience in the development of
Africa.

When A.M. Noor, assistant minister for planning and
development of Kenya, was asked about Africa's ability to sustain
political stability, he assured them that the continent had come
a long way in the democratization process.

"Almost now 50 percent of the African countries have gone
multi-partisan," Noor told The Jakarta Post. "That wind is
blowing all over Africa now. As democracy is taking shape, peace
and stability will follow," he said.

Apart from stressing the importance of socio-political
environments for development, the Forum also asserted the need
for promoting development in human resources and institution
building, economic and social infrastructure, agriculture and the
restructuring of a more balanced economy.

The forum also views that the private sector should be
encouraged to participate more in the development of Africa.

North

In his closing statement to the Forum, Nana underlined the
importance of involving developed countries of the "North" in any
cooperation project between the developing nations of the
"South".

The Forum would like to see more concrete examples of the
North's participation, such as contributions from Japan, he said.

"We realize that in the end, development funding, in addition
to coming from domestic savings, also needs input from abroad,"
Nana told journalists.

He noted that delegates from developed countries such as the
United States, France and Germany, who attended the Forum as
observers, had not yet given any clear commitment to the results
of the Forum.

Nonetheless he remained confident of their commitment to the
future. "Development is becoming a rallying cry for all
countries," he remarked.

The Forum's co-chairman, Japan's Yasushi Kurokouchi, said the
developed countries are very interested in the activities of the
Forum and pointed to the attendance of major donors as evidence.

He noted that even developed countries have been burdened by
difficult economic times lately and thus they would like to
contribute to development projects in the most efficient way.

Joseph Arapng'ok, a senior economist from Kenya, said that
despite the importance of the North, a lot has already been
achieved without them.

"You get the impression that you always need the North in
order to do anything, but there are a lot of things that the
South can do themselves," he told the Post.

Delegates from the Forum stayed in Bandung yesterday to visit
various development projects in the area, such as a family
planning project in Lembang and the plant of the state aircraft
manufacturer IPTN. Most are heading back to their respective
countries today.