I would strongly suggest that one of the first steps is to break the cycle of poverty. A community which is able to channel resources into education, training and healthcare, is one which can cope with most problems. I must emphasise that we Africans know only too well the pernicious impact of hand outs. We don't want charity we want justice. We seek a justice that recognises that many African countries have repaid their loans to developing nations several times over and are caught in a never-ending interest spiral.
More money flows northward from the poor countries in the south than the other way round.
In South Africa, for example, the second highest item on our national budget is for servicing debts. Debts incurred to sustain the apartheid regime. We don't ask that our debts are simply wiped out and that our governments can do as they choose with the money that we now use to service them, we would understand if you insisted that it is spent on health and education. As we shift to a global economy, leading economists are questioning whether the developing regions will survive. Yet the recent World Economic Forum, in which I also participated, recognised the interdependence of the developed and developing countries and the need for creative partnerships and solutions.