Greece, African Capacity Building Foundation sign membership accord

from The Herald

Herald Reporter

GREECE and the African Capacity Building Foundation yesterday signed a membership agreement in Harare, as it strives to partner with Africa to develop capacities to fight poverty and achieve sustainable growth.

Greece becomes the 45th member of the ACBF.

The Greek government is set to pledge US$1 million towards financing the foundation’s strategic medium term plan for the period between 2007 and 2011, which has a funding envelope of US$350 million.

ACBF is Africa’s premier institution in capacity building and it was established in 1991 as the outcome of collaboration between African governments and the international donor community.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Harare, the Greek Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Dimitri Alexandrakis said his country had over the last decade placed increasing emphasis on development programmes.

"A new department for international development co-operation has been created within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we place great emphasis on assisting countries to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals," he said.

He said that during his tour of duty in Zimbabwe, Greece had extended development and food aid to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.

"For example, Zimbabwe, our host country and Zambia have each received 50 000 euros for combating HIV and Aids and Malawi another 50 000 euros for the WFP-run refugee programme there," said Mr Alexandrakis.

He said Greece was a "medium-sized" country and their development budget, while increasing on a permanent basis, was still not as high as they would wish.

Greece has eight embassies in Sub-Saharan Africa, he said.

"We see our participation in the African Capacity Building Foundation as crucial to furthering our goal of extending increased assistance towards development of the whole of Africa," said Mr Alexandrakis.

ACBF executive secretary Dr Soumana Sako said the agreement was a significant moment for the foundation and its stakeholders as it symbolised an extension of the ACBF family.

"The decision by the Hellenic Republic to join ACBF demonstrates its strong willingness to partner with Africa in the continent’s unrelenting efforts to develop capacities to fight poverty and achieve sustainable growth," he said.

Dr Sako said the ACBF could not tackle the capacity-building challenges facing Africa alone and for this reason, it placed enormous importance on building partnerships with governments and institutions that demonstrated their willingness to help the continent in the fight against poverty.

ACBF’s membership comprises 29 African countries including Zimbabwe, 11 European countries, one Asian country, and four multilateral organisations.