O.A.U. summit calls for African economic community

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 9

O.A.U. summit calls for African economic community

NZPA-Reuter. Addis Ababa African leaders, trying to weather a decade of financial crises, say the 1990 s could mark the beginning of a new era of political and economic unity. The heads of State of the 49-member Organisation of African Unity (0.A.U.) endorsed a blueprint drawn up by an O.A.U. steering committee for an African Economic Community at the end of their annual summit. The final resolution was short on detail. A report submitted to closed-door talks at the summit, however, sketched a tentative timetable for the introduction of an African common market over a period of 10 years from 1998. It would then develop into an African Economic Community over the next 20 years, according to the report presented by the outgoing O.A.U. Secretary-General, Ide Oumarou. The leaders pledged to strengthen “economic cooperation and integration

as a launching pad for ... self-sustaining and self-reliant development of member States within the framework of the establishment of the African Economic Community.” The summit was notable too for efforts to foster Afro-Arab cooperation. The Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, after taking over as O.A.U. chairman from the Mali President, Moussa Traore, said as the meeting ended, “The deliberations carried out

with this spirit of teamwork have made me truly feel that I belong to the united African family.” It was clear to all, however, that the dreams of the future depended on overcoming current, harsh economic realities. African leaders renewed a four-year-old call for an international conference on what they called the continent’s “excruciating”, SUS23O billion (5NZ394.5 billion) debt. They appealed for far more debt relief in the form of write-offs and easier repayment terms as well as new aid. As expected, they' called for tougher and mandatory economic sanctions against South Africa. They also warned of vote rigging by Pretoria to deny the South West Africa People’s Organisation (5.W.A.P.0.) victory in November’s United Nations-spon-sored elections in Namibia, in the run-up to independence after 74 years of South African rule.