African leaders to push for deeper and widespread debt relief

Accra, April 17, GNA - Mr. Akwasi Osei Adjei, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Regional Cooperation and NEPAD, has commended African leaders for adhering to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiatives to bring a change in Africa's quest for unity and development.

Mr Osei Adjei said through NEPAD, the leadership in Africa assessed the continent as being in a dire state of poverty and committed themselves to a set of conditions in the areas of peace, security, democracy, political governance as well as economic and corporate governance.

Speaking to GNA in Accra on Monday on NEPAD communications cluster, he noted that as a result of widespread commitment and adherence of the ideals of NEPAD and its adjunct, peace and stability existed in many parts of the African continent.

"Instability is (receding) in the face of structures of stability and an increasing number of African governments now adhere to the fundamental values of respect for human dignity, justice, equality and accountability."

Mr Osei Adjei added that Ghana's early example of offering herself as the first African country to undergo self-assessment and constructive peer dialogue under the Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) exposed several truths and offered options to better manage democracy and good governance.

He stressed that the APRM which now involved several African countries, demonstrated that Africa had moved beyond the point of mere rhetoric and now backed her words with action.

"This globalised framework presented the best opportunity to eradicate poverty from the African continent and also possibly place Africa on an irreversible path of sustainable growth and development."

Mr Osei Adjei urged African leaders to grasp the current opportunities and maintain the international momentum in support of Africa's development and also push for deeper and widespread debt relief for the countries of the continent.

He advised that in order to achieve the goals of NEPAD they needed to address the concerns of coordination and collaboration which had often emerged in the implementation of NEPAD initiatives.

"There is the need to strengthen coordination at the cluster level to promote opportunities for knowledge sharing and effective consultations among the regional, sub-regional and country levels." Mr Osei Adjei urged African leaders to remain united in their common quest to fast track the implementation of the priority projects and programme of NEPAD. 17 April 07