REMARKS BY H.E DR. G.L PITSO, AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA TO VIETNAM AT THE SEMINAR WITH THE THEME :
“THE 21ST CENTURY: SEASON OF HOPE FOR VIETNAM AND AFRICA”

30TH MARCH 2006
HANOI, VIETNAM

President of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Prof. Do Hoai Nam,
Representatives of Government Ministries,
Ambassadors,
Members of Diplomatic Corp,
Academics,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is indeed a great honour and priveledge for me to speak in this important seminar.

Today’s seminar, with the theme “The 21st Century: Season of Hope for Vietnam and Africa” will focus on serious challenges that confront Africa as a continent and Vietnam as a country. These challenges include poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment and diseases.

South Africa, as a member of the African Union (AU) encourages and supports the participation of  civil society, including intellectuals, in the African renaissance project. That is why we warmly welcome these African academics here in Vietnam.

I speak to you today cognisant of the fact that your views and activities are critical to our common venture to ensure the recovery of the African continent.

In this context, I trust that together with your Vietnamese counterparts, you will reflect frankly on political, economic and social developments that are taking place in Africa and Vietnam respectively. I believe that you will further draw comparisons and contrasts based on Africa and Vietnam’s experiences that relate directly to matters of political and economic reforms.

In 2001, one of the World Bank publications asked the question: Can Africa claim the 21st century? This must be the very first time in half a millennium that the African people’s answer to that question would be a resounding yes.

For more than half a millennium, international perception of Africa and its people was that of a backward, dark and hopeless continent. This perception triggered many people to believe that the solutions to the challenges facing the African continent could not come from Africa itself. In other words, these solutions had to be prescribed to Africans from other parts of the world.

The World Bank Structural Adjustment Programmes are clear cases in point. These programmes did not produce the intended objective of alleviating poverty in Africa. The realities in Africa call for robust spending on social welfare, contrary to what the Structural Adjustment Programme sought to achieve.

In his Address to the Joint Sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces on 31 October 2001, H.E. President Thabo Mbeki stated that when casting their eyes back over, at the end of the 21st century, historians should see that “Africa has at last emerged from a long period of darkness and fear into one of light and a dream fulfilled”.

President Mbeki went on to say that “they should see the reality of a new African, who, having refused to be conditioned by circumstances imposed by a past of slavery, colonialism, racism and apartheid, has succeeded to create a new world of peace, democracy, development and prosperity”. 

Is this vision of African Renaissance echoed by President Mbeki and a new generation of African leaders attainable? To make this vision a reality, Africans understood well that security and development are inextricably linked.

Let me briefly elaborate on some positive developments that make us to believe that indeed the 21st century is an African century.

As we entered the fifth year of the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the conditions for development as outlined by NEPAD are being created.
• The AU no longer tolerates unconstitutional changes of government in Africa.
• African resources are being utilised and African leaders are playing a critical role in the management, prevention and resolution of conflicts, thus bringing African solutions to African problems.
• Good governance, democracy and the promotion of human rights are becoming the norm around Africa rather the exception and the number of peaceful elections being held continues to grow.
• The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) has already commenced and the first set of reviews (Ghana Rwanda) has been completed.
• On the economic front, trends that existed before are being reversed. There is an increase in countries following sound macro-economic planning, policies and management, as well as in states showing 5% or more growth rate for 2004.
• A declining trend in foreign direct investment (FDI) and overseas development assistance (ODA) is being reversed. ODA and FDI continued to flow into Africa during 2005, reversing a declining trend of the 1990s until 2001.   

In conclusion, I am humbly pleased that this seminar will address the issue of political and economic reforms and regional integration, which are the fundamental pillars of the regeneration process of the African continent and for economic development in Vietnam.

I wish you success in your deliberations.

Thank you