[World Economic Forum] Politicians, bankers, rock stars look to Africa's future

from Monsters and Critics

Davos, Switzerland - Leading figures involved in the debate over the development of Africa on Friday laid out what they saw were the next steps for the impoverished continent at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

They agreed that top priorities were global trade talks, exposing corruption by donors and recipients, investing heavily in primary education and tackling farm subsidies that put African farmers at a serious disadvantage.

However, they all agreed that the Africa must be given the tools and opportunity to take itself forward.

'We used to talk and talk about what to do in Africa,' said British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. 'The real question is about what Africa can do for itself.'

Nigerian President Olusegun Obansanjo said that Africa was taking the first steps toward this goal by beginning to govern with accountability, pointing to elections in Liberia, Tanzania and Burundi.

Irish rock star and poverty campaigner, Bono, said that Africa should be allowed to give free rein to its entrepreneurial nature by removing Common Agricultural Subsidies, under which European cows are 'paid' two dollars a day and Japanese cows seven dollars.

'They say it's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish,' he said. 'It's even better to teach a man how to sell a fish.'

The only problem with the idea of 'selling fish' was the physical infrastructure required to get to market, said World Bank President, Paul D. Wolfowitz.

'The Bank is trying to get back into infrastructure projects,' he said.