Davos Club Snubs Africa
Africa-NEPAD

With only a handful of African officials attending and no African issues on the agenda, the World Economic Forum appears to be ignoring 13 percent of the world's population.

By Emad Mekay

DAVOS, Switzerland - Despite talk from WEF officials that this evidently exclusive organization is moving towards openness and inclusion, African officials and NGOs here are complaining that the "elitist" gathering has failed them.

"Africa didn't really shine here," ironised Trevor Manuel, South African minister of finance.

NGOs attending the Davos Forum echoed that sentiment, saying the event is not the "catch-all" gathering that organisers claim.

"In the consciousness of the participants here, Africa is very much a side show," says Kumi Naidoo, head of the U.S.-based NGO, Civicus.

"As people met here, some 4,000 people a day were being hospitalised in Africa and dying. It's clear that at such a global level, we are fairly numb to this tragedy," he added.

Among the many snubs Africa received here was the decision by former U.S. president Bill Clinton to cancel his presence at a press conference on Africa today to discuss the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

Forum officials said Clinton did not give reasons for not attending.

Niall Fitzgerald, CEO of the British-Dutch food and soap company Unilever also failed to show for the conference, citing other engagements.

Even at the level of panels and discussion sessions -- the core of the WEF programme -- there were hardly any devoted to the problems or topics directly related to Africa, just five out of a total 300 sessions.

"There is a complete dearth of panels on Africa," said minister Manuel, whose country is the engine behind NEPAD, an effort devised by African leaders to give the continent more say in determining its trade agenda.

Manuel said he would have liked to see more debates on matters like debt relief, market access, health and HIV/AIDS, as well as on Africa's own utilisation of its resources. None of theses were on the agenda.

Naidoo noted in particular the absence of Africa in the high-profile economic outlook survey presented in Davos.

"None of them talked about Africa," he said referring to the economic forecast discussions here. "They were all about the U.S. and Europe. China and India were touched upon. But there was nothing about Africa."

"It is as if Africa doesn't exist," added the US activist. "This writes off a huge chunk of humanity and reduces them to mere spectators of the world economy."

There are more than 800 million people in Africa, or 13 percent of the world's population. Africa's population is expected to increase to 1.3 billion by 2020.

Only three African presidents were invited to Davos: Benjamin William Mkapa, of Tanzania, Paul Kagame, of Rwanda, and Joaquim Alberto Chissano, of Mozambique.

The WEF is a by-invitation-only event, even when it comes to national officials, said Manuel. No African leader "could have just said 'oh, I feel like going to Davos today."

(Unlike Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who, uninvited, dropped in on Porto Alegre.) And sitting on the panels there was hardly anyone from the black continent discussing some of the WEF's main themes, such as business, global governance, and values.

But Manuel, who appeared frustrated at a press conference later in the day, said that Africa should keep trying to get commitments from the industrialised North and its organisations, including WEF, especially in backing initiatives like NEPAD.

"Keep the faith," he said. "African heads of states will continue meeting and they will keep heads of states from the north committed."

He said African heads of state are to meet in March to finalise steps towards implementing NEPAD goals like a peer-review mechanism, increasing intra-Africa trade and broadening participation from diverse sectors of African society.