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Europeans carry their economic, political message to Africa |
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April 6, 2000 CAIRO, APR 5 (AP) - Europe came to Africa calling for democracy, human rights and good governance and promising to help overcome the continent's economic crisis - and found itself accused of paternalism.
While many African leaders cringed at the fiery rhetoric of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi during this week's Africa-Europe summit in Cairo, he said out loud what more than a few had in their hearts: "Africa needs food and medicine, it does not need lessons in democracy."
European countries consider helping with African debt a moral obligation on the part of wealthy countries that have exploited the continent, but they want to change a central relationship of simply doling out aid money.
Europe is saying African countries must clean up their own act, form into regional associations and work out some of their own problems - something many Africans agree would help.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, host of the summit, told his guests that the responsibility for Africa's development belongs primarily to Africa. But, summit participants noted in a joint statement, the international community has an important role in fighting poverty.
In recent years, Europe has focused on forging new global relationships based on free and fair trade tied to promoting democratic principles. But its efforts toward those goals at the Africa-Europe summit that ended Tuesday contrasted sharply with its methods elsewhere in the world.
At last year's Europe-Latin America summit in Rio de Janeiro and at the 1996 and 1998 Asia-Europe summits in Bangkok and London, the European Union was in the market for trading partners. Asians and Latin Americans got the European lecture, but they also got business deals.
The Cairo summit was more about fixing Africa than finding a new partner. In something akin to visiting a sick relative or helping a down-and-out friend, there were warm words and pledges of new debt relief, but no big business deals or investments.
Since the 15-nation European Union went to Latin America talking free trade, it has signed an agreement with Mexico and is working on a similar deal with Argentina. The EU and the South American countries of the Southern Cone Common Market, known as Mercosur, are considering a free-trade zone.
The EU went to Asia looking for the market of the future. Asians heard they must change their ways in East Timor, Burma - places where accusations of human rights abuses are rife - but there was serious trade talk, too.
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