Former President of the United States of America, Mr. Bill Clinton, yesterday in Abuja, dispelled the common notion that lack of growth in developing nations was caused by corruption, saying “too little capacity” is responsible for problems in the third world.
Clinton, who spoke at the opening luncheon of the Leon H. Sullivan Summit VII at the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock Abuja, said developing nations were thus faced with the challenge of building a system that would give people the opportunity to excel and also reward hard work.
He said inequality in the world only rests in the distribution of opportunities, the reason why African countries should strive to build a system that solves that problem.
“All this time, we say there is too much corruption in the developing world, what is there too little capacity. This creates a vacuum where all sorts of bad things happen. People need an organised way to pursue their objectives,” he said.
Clinton, who received a thunderous applause after making the statement, went further to point out that intelligence, ability and effort is evenly distributed in all parts of the world but that investments and an organised system is only achieved through a thoughtful planning by the government.
He stated that the whole idea about the Sullivan principles is the maximisation of talents and to help people achieve their dreams.
“I am convinced that the number one challenge today in Africa is building the systematic capacity that would enable people who live here to make their own future. One thing I have learnt in all the places that I have been all over the world is that intelligence, ability and effort are evenly distributed. But investment, opportunity, effective system are not”, he said.
He said the “miracle economies of Asia” did not come about only as a result of intelligence and hard work but also because of a system that will reward people’s efforts and intelligence.
The former US President who has been to Nigeria three times since leaving the White House praised President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Minister of Finance, now Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the great work he says they have done for the country.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has signed a deal with the Clinton Foundation to facilitate the supply of affordable and high-quality drugs to fight the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country.
Though accurate health statistics are elusive, experts estimate that between 3.5 million and five million people here have contracted the HIV virus which leads to AIDS and that the number is increasing rapidly.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding in Abuja yesterday was witnessed by President Olusegun Obasanjo and Clinton and Minister of Health, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo signed for Nigeria, Ira Magaziner signed for the Foundation.
Under the deal, Nigeria will be included in the Foundation's procurement consortium and benefit from its negotiated supplier agreements to reduce the prices of HIV/AIDS drugs.
Under the deal, the Clinton Foundation will also assist Nigeria in expanding access to pediatric HIV/AIDS care and treatment by facilitating access to pediatric anti-retrovirial drugs and providing technical assistance.
The Foundation will help the country mobilise financial resources from donor governments, other foundations, multilateral organisations, private corporations and individuals and fund HIV/AIDS interventions.
Clinton at the event also called for concerted efforts to fight AIDS saying "We cannot stop the spread of AIDS without building the capacity of governments, without NGOs working with governments. My contribution is basically to give the least expensive high-quality AIDS medicine in the world to children and adults.”
But Nigeria and other African countries are most unlikely to meet the 2015 target for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated this yesterday in Abuja while presenting a paper on "Financing and Investing in Africa's Private Sector" at the on-going Sullivan Summit VII.
The Minister noted that over the years, there had been an improvement in the macroeconomic environment, business climate and good governance, but lamented that human development indicators in most African countries have shown little improvement.
She said, "Infact, with less than a decade to 2015, it appears most African countries are unlikely to meet any of their MDG targets. The missing link here is that we have not been able to translate our improved economic and political environment into measurable developments of the real sectors of our economies so that jobs can be created for our youths and poverty cut in half."
The Foreign Minister said compared with other regions, Africa's share of global FDI at about 6-7 percent is still very low.
"In 2005, when sub-saharan Africa received $17.6 billion in FDI, other regions performed much better, with East Asia attracting about $65.3 billion, Latin America and the Caribbean receiving about $61.4 billion", she said.
Okonjo-Iweala stressed that "developing the real sectors of the economy is needed to create employment, and also to improve the incomes and livelihoods of our citizens. The lack of adequate investments in Africa, is also surprising given the high rates of return obtained by foreign investors. Research by UNCTAD examined foreign direct investments in the 1990s, and concluded that the African region provided some of the highest rates of return of about 29 percent. Infact for Nigeria, the average rate of return is on private investment in the economy is 35 percent."



http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=53413

I agree with the former President of America, Bill Clinton on the real causes of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa. But that the President of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is allright is an ignorant analysis and he only commended the ruling government of Obasanjo for cordial diplomatic reasons.

yea but did he support june 12? hell no!dont lets kid ourselves our help cometh not from america or uk but within. thats why i salute my brothers -hugo chavez and evo morales. the time is now-yankees foreign policy is subjugative-where and who have they helped?their selfish interest comes first. sorry for the block letters.

lewa:

yea but did he support june 12? hell no!don't lets kid ourselves our help cometh not from america or uk but within. thats why i salute my brothers -hugo chavez and evo morales. the time is now-yankees foreign policy is subjugative-where and who have they helped?their selfish interest comes first. sorry for the block letters.

and what are u still doing in Chicago,,,,move to Venezuela or bolivia or something,,,,,go there and experience racism and discrimination from those spanish speaking fools.

@emeka83
quite myopic of you. lets address the question and please dont make generalizations,
seems you are frustrated?abi?what has staying in chicago got to do with with underdevelopment in the third world?

i agree with clinton. he is a real good speaker and an intelligent fella.

wat has june 12 got 2 do wit d analysis on hand?

@buchio7
Please!When we had the chance has a collective nation to move foward what happened?June 12 was annulled
and the powers that be just looked. John Major and Clinton were the first to acknowledge Abachas junta. So what underdevelopment are they saying? For years they the west supported Eyadema, Mobutu,Kamuzu Banda,Houphet Biogny to the detriment of the people they ought to serve.All this is rhetoric. Clinton is great, i love him and respect his charisma annd oratorial prowess but hes foreign policy still didnt reflect the great stuff he could have done. Though he tried for middle east peace.

clinton was not perfect as a c in c but his foreign policy ventures was greatly effective in holding down conflict in d world unlike wat we now c under bush. he did a lot in my opinion and also failed in other repects but dis drive he is going on now has a lot to offer developing nations. i listened to his interview by jonathan mann(cnn) and d crux of his plan as well as bill gates is to partner with developing countries in africa to help in d control of h.i.v but d good tin in his plan is dat dey are nt coming and doing magic and den flying back to d u.s of a but r going to bring in local manpower and govt agencies(n.g.os e.t.c) so dat dere is a transfer of knowledge which will help those pple utilised to stand on dere own and earn a living.i didnt getall d pic of d program bt it was quite interesting.