May 25, 1998

AFRICA: URGENT HELP NEEDED FOR LDCS

Geneva, May 20 (IPS/Lewis Machipisa) - African ministers have called on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to fully -- and quickly -- implement a special programme for the world's least developed countries (LDCs) that was launched last October.  

"These countries belong to a special, but deplorable category of the weakest group of developing countries," Nathan Shamuyarira, Zimbabwe's industry and Commerce Minister, said at the WTO's Second Ministerial Meeting, held here on May 18-20. "It is hence incumbent on all of us to take special measures to deal with their difficult situation."  

Following the launch of the Inter-agency Technical Assistance Programme for LDCs, which aims to help the world's poorest nations move towards meeting the challenge of economic globalisation, and the announcement of market-opening measures by some industrialised countries, WTO head Renato Ruggiero stressed that the "time had come for developed nations to look after the LDCs as this is in their interest."  

For the first time, six major international organisations have succeeded in working together in responding to the specific needs of the LDC's, said Ruggiero. The six include the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the WTO and the ITC (International Trade Corporation).  

The provisions of the assistance programme, agreed to at a high- level meeting held on 27-28 October here, relate to market access, capacity building, technical assistance and integration into the global trading system.  

While the African ministers commended the fact that several WTO members had announced that they were offering improved market access to LDCs, they lamented that the offers remained "autonomous and contractual."  

"Moreover, these offers require evaluation to determine the net effect on LDCs, individually and collectively," they said in joint statement issued at the ministerial meeting.  

"Recalling that 33 out of the 48 LDCs are all in Africa, we attach great importance to appropriate follow-up to the UNCTAD/ WTO/ITC integrated initiative, including adequate and extra- budgetary financial resources for this purpose," they said.  

Although concrete outcomes still have to be evaluated, the high- level meeting in October 1997 was a step in the right direction, added the ministers. But, they argued, unless the debt issue is resolved, this initiative may have little effect.

The ministers complained that the external debt had become a and continued to be a serious burden for LDCs, yet these countries were expected to integrate in the multilateral trading system. Twenty-eight LDCs figure among the nations with very heavy multilateral debts. Their combined debt stock amounted to 38 billion dollars in 1993, according to UNCTAD.  

While this is only two percent of the total outstanding external debt of developing countries, servicing their debts has placed excessive pressure on the LDCs involved.  

"This situation", lamented Syamukayumbu Syamujaye, Zambia's Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, "poses a constraint to any economic growth and governments' ability to respond to the challenges of poverty reduction."  

"This unfortunately has led to our forfeiting certain rights that would otherwise be very important to us," said Syamujaye, whose country is one of the LDCs.  

The 48 LDCs represent 12% of the world's population, but they account for just 0.4% of world trade, and this share is declining. 

They receive only 1.8% of the foreign direct investment that goes to all developing nations, and in 1996, the official development assistance they got from OECD countries reached its lowest level since statistics were first compiled in 1950.  

Aid to sub-Saharan Africa, where most LDCs are located, has been dropping for several years. At the same time, these countries are often unable to face foreign competition and take advantage of new trade opportunities provided by the Uruguay Round.