President Jacob Zuma.(SABC)
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President Jacob Zuma is departing Davos with more questions than answers to concerns regarding the eurozone crisis, a matter he says is negatively affecting traditional trade relations with that region.
The President has met with business and political heavyweights during his two-day visit to the World Economic Forum and concedes it will take more than bold statements to ensure Africa cushions itself against the imminent shocks, and grows at adequate rates to counter joblessness and societal impatience with the pace of progress.
It's a mouth-watering prospect. “Africa can and will be the next growth pole of the global economy. We believe we are where India was in the early 90s," says Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The president has a different view. " It's a statement that is a tall order, a tall order from the point of view that if you compare India or so, you are talking about one country dealing with itself, but big and massive. If you're talking about Africa, even if you talk about 1 billion, but you are talking about different countries. That's why I'm saying it's a tall order, because how do you harmonize all of this," says president Zuma.
He criticised European leaders for countless meetings that have yet to provide adequate results
He criticised European leaders for countless meetings that have yet to provide adequate results and called for cohesive leadership to counter the eurozone effect.
"We need to move Africa to convince Africa that working together, as the continent, as this one billion people, is in fact more advantageous than working as one single country across the seas. That again is a tall order, but I think if the bulk of the continent takes a decision to move forward, few small countries would not matter that much," stressed the president.
What has emerged from the dialogue in Davos is that as hard as Europe is working to dig itself out of the pit, in the short-term, the closer you're tied to that region, the more painful it’s likely to be. Africa is working to strengthen South-South relations, which in the presidents words, will be crucial to cushioning the expected shocks.
