Three Heads of State call on Kufuor

Three Heads of State attending the on-going two-day Annual Policy Forum of the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA) in Accra on Wednesday paid separate courtesy calls on President John Kufuor at the Castle, Osu.

They were President Festus G. Mogae of Botswana, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. President Kufuor said the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) principle signified a major change in the attitude of African leaders and African countries.

"This is a vision of African nations being networked into a unified continental modern economy and market." On the Ivorian crisis, President Kufuor said the French government was lending a hand to the way forward for amicable solution to the crisis whilst ECOWAS would send a peacekeeping force to assist to bring peace to the country.

President Mogae said there was the need to put an end to conflicts on the continent, which is the main agenda on the Forum. He said he was hopeful that with the influence of France, a solution could be found to the Ivorian crisis.

President Obasanjo said NEPAD was an African initiative to deal with African problems by Africans for Africa through partnership with each other, either between countries, public and private sector, civil society and individuals.

He said it was to deal with the entire social, economic and political problems of Africa, while the GCA was to tackle the problems on the continent through the economic and human capacities.

President Kagame said it was important for the various African leaders to come out with what contributions they could make towards finding lasting solution to problems on the continent.

The Forum under the theme, "Security and NEPAD" is to review aspects of security in Africa, including the security dimensions of NEPAD. About 150 participants, including current and former heads of state and government, ministers and senior officials from development partners, international organisations, parliamentarians and representatives of the private sector, civil society and the media, are attending.

The GCA is an innovative inter-governmental forum that brings together key political, business and civic actors from African and partner countries to deepen dialogue and build consensus on Africa's priority development issues. The first meeting of the GCA was held in Gaborone, Botswana, on 25 October 2001.