‘Economic plans won’t be realised by 2012’

PLANS for Southern Africa’s economic integration were unlikely to be realised by 2012, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said yesterday.

“I do not believe if we continue at the pace we are doing now, the SADC (Southern African Development Community) programme of economic integration can become a reality,” he said at the opening of a Pretoria meeting of the SA/Mozambique Joint Permanent Commission for Co-operation. Pahad was also doubtful about SADC’s ability, at the current pace of putting programmes in place, to become an engine of growth for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).Ways had to be found for SADC to function better, Pahad said.He added that it was also critical for Nepad to be successful given current food shortages and growing refugee numbers in the Southern African region.The African Peer Review Mechanism, which Pahad described as the continent’s response to “those who think they can force-feed democracy on the third world”, would help Africa identify blockages to development for joint resolution.The minister also lamented a lack of political will among rich nations to helping developing countries get out of the current cycle of underdevelopment.The recent Special Millennium Summit of the United Nations in New York was a “vast failure” in that it failed to meet any of Africa’s expectations, he said.Pahad was co-chairing the commission with his Mozambican counterpart Eduardo Koloma.-Nampa-SapaPahad was also doubtful about SADC’s ability, at the current pace of putting programmes in place, to become an engine of growth for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).Ways had to be found for SADC to function better, Pahad said.He added that it was also critical for Nepad to be successful given current food shortages and growing refugee numbers in the Southern African region.The African Peer Review Mechanism, which Pahad described as the continent’s response to “those who think they can force-feed democracy on the third world”, would help Africa identify blockages to development for joint resolution.The minister also lamented a lack of political will among rich nations to helping developing countries get out of the current cycle of underdevelopment.The recent Special Millennium Summit of the United Nations in New York was a “vast failure” in that it failed to meet any of Africa’s expectations, he said.Pahad was co-chairing the commission with his Mozambican counterpart Eduardo Koloma.-Nampa-Sapa