State of Africa Report 2004 Contents
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY AFRICAN PRESIDENTIAL ARCHIVES AND RESEARCH CENTER African Leaders STATE OF AFRICA REPORT 2004 CONTENTS Letter from the Director 2 Foreword 4 Republic of Benin 6 Republic of Botswana 14 Republic of Cape Verde 26 Republic of Ghana 34 Republic of Kenya 46 Republic of Malawi 52 Republic of Mali 66 Republic of Mozambique 74 Federal Republic of Nigeria 108 Republic of Senegal 114 Republic of South Africa 128 United Republic of Tanzania 140 Republic of Zambia 164 APARC and Its Mission Since the 1990s, a number of sub-Saharan establishing a forum for African leaders to African countries have been making significant engage other political, business, academic, strides in furthering democratic and free-market and public-sector leaders regarding Africa’s reform. These changes reflect the vision and global relationships. dynamism of the present generation of African To learn more about the center or to leaders in those countries. receive additional copies of this report, The African Presidential Archives and please contact the Boston University African Research Center at Boston University (APARC) Presidential Archives and Research Center, is collecting documents that chronicle this phase 141 Bay State Road, Boston, Massachusetts in Africa’s development, taking a multidiscipli- 02215, 617-353-5452, [email protected]. nary approach to teaching about Africa, and African Leaders State of Africa Report 2004 chronicled in this report are the struggles with that question and the enormous comparative progress that has been made in the postcolonial, post–Cold War period in Africa. The countries featured in this report have made significant strides in terms of democratic governance and the development of their economies along free-market lines. In terms of governance, the countries featured have had to confront all of the challenges one 2 would expect nascent democracies to face. Nigerian president Olusegan Obasanjo articulates those challenges as “strengthening political insti- tutions, fighting corruption, building new leader- ship, sanitising the nature of political competi- tion, and refocusing our political perspectives towards peace, tolerance, inclusion, harmony, and From the Director collective dedication to the common good.” This report catalogues the trials and travails that are The African Leaders State of Africa Report is a part of the pain of birthing new democracies. But publication of the African Presidential Archives the dominant theme is one of leaders and coun- and Research Center at Boston University. The tries clearly institutionalizing the principles and report is an effort to provide a forum for Africa’s processes of democratic governance. leaders to offer an assessment—in their own voic- The process of democratic governance is root- es—of contemporary trends and developments in ing itself all across the continent. It is reflected in their respective countries. The 2004 report is the the stability of Tanzania, which is preparing for its third in the series of reports, representing an fifth cycle of multiparty elections over the last ongoing contemporary chronicle of the progress twenty-plus years. It is reflected in Mozambican of the countries featured in this publication. president Joaquim Chissano passing the torch of The present period in the history of modern leadership in this year’s multiparty elections after Africa could be characterized as a second epoch. having led the country through civil war and con- The first was from the mid-1950s through the end stitutional changes to stability. It is reflected in of apartheid in South Africa. During this period Botswana, which just concluded its “ninth consec- the liberation of the continent was the focal point utive general election since 1965. Like all of those of political and practical concern. The major ques- before it, the ballot was carried out in a peaceful, tion for the leadership on the continent was: free, and fair manner.” Benin has recently cele- “How do Africans get their countries back?” brated its forty-fourth anniversary, which, accord- Although the liberation of the continent was ing to President Mathieu Kérékou, “occurs in a not complete until the end of apartheid in South context characterized by the protection of liber- Africa, the transition from the first epoch to the ties within our political stability and the correct second began well before apartheid ended. The and regular functioning of the state’s institutions, second period substantively began with the end national unity, and social peace.” of the Cold War. This period is marked by an Relative to the economy, the report chronicles equally poignant question for African leaders: unprecedented economic performance, which has “Now that Africans have their countries back, been accomplished on the dregs of economic how do they make them work?” What we have infrastructure left in most African countries at the end of the colonial period. Botswana the construction sector continues to grow at 11 “achieved independence as one of the world’s percent per annum. poorest states, surrounded on all sides by racist The cover design of the 2004 report is a col- and oppressive minority regimes.” From 1986 to lage of national flags and national currencies. As 2003, the poverty rate dropped from 59 percent has been the case in previous years, the cover to 30 percent, “while at the same time a veritable design is a representation of the dominant telecommunications revolution has taken place.” themes of the report. The flags and currencies The overall “teledensity” rate in Botswana has are meant to be a graphic depiction of the politi- increased from 8 percent to more than 40 cal stability and economic viability that are the percent over the last four years. Since the end hallmarks of the countries featured in this year’s of apartheid in South Africa, President Thabo State of Africa Report. 3 Mbeki notes, his country “is experiencing the longest period of consistent positive growth since the GDP [gross domestic product] was properly recorded in the 1940s.” In his final state of the state assessment, Tanzanian president Benjamin Ambassador Charles R. Stith, Director Mkapa stated, “Tanzania has entered the new African Presidential Archives and millennium with hope and optimism . after a Research Center long period of stagnation and slow growth”; the Boston University mining sector grew at 17 percent in 2003, the February 21, 2005 manufacturing sector grew by 8.6 percent, and African Leaders State of Africa Report 2004 Foreword It gives me great pleasure, as the third Balfour African President-in-Residence at the African Presidential Archives and Research Center at Boston University (APARC), to contribute to the African Leaders State of Africa Report 2004. I wish to commend the African Presidential Archives and Research Center and in particular its dedicated director, Ambassador Charles R. Stith, 4 for this excellent initiative. I have no doubt that this year’s report, just like the two earlier editions, will shed more light on current issues pertaining to Africa and create a better understanding of this continent. Such a mission is of utmost relevance at the present time, since, as I have personally I would be failing in my duty were I not to noticed on many occasions, surprisingly little is pay a deserving tribute to the Lloyd G. Balfour known of Africa in the United States. Foundation for its generous grant to APARC, But more important, the African Leaders State which enables this organization to carry out its of Africa Report, which highlights the efforts highly important mission. made by many African countries to shift to Finally, I am pleased to convey my best wishes democracy and a free-market economy, will to APARC in its future endeavors, which will certainly serve as an effective tool to clear up most certainly have a considerable and positive numerous misconceptions and to dispel existing impact on the future of our continent—Africa. doubts about Africa’s genuine commitment to good governance—responsibility, accountability, and transparency—and to moving down the path Karl Auguste Offmann of sustainable development through pragmatic Former President of Mauritius and carefully prepared economic policies. Balfour African President-in-Residence It is only when a true image of Africa is African Presidential Archives and projected to the outside world that this long- Research Center neglected continent can take its rightful place February 21, 2005 and play a meaningful and fruitful role in today’s globalized environment. That is why organizations like the African Presidential Archives and Research Center and a host of others that are striving in the same direction must pursue with added determination and vigor their mission of promoting friendship and a wider measure of cooperation between the peoples of Africa and the rest of the world. In this task, the support of the Balfour African President-in-Residence program and former African leaders with their wealth of wisdom and experience will, I hope, not be lacking. BENIN Divider Page BENIN 6 Tomorrow our country, Benin, will celebrate without ceremony but with legitimate pride the forty-fourth anniversary of its accession to inde- pendence and international sovereignty. Despite the turmoil and hardships currently observed throughout the world, our country is still a haven for peace, where hardworking people in our cities and our rural communities strive with courage and tenacity to increase production, transform their lives, and create the material foundations for prosperity and modernity. Impervious to the despair or resignation of Address to the Nation by the scope of this task and the sacrifices necessary to overcome poverty and underdevelopment, the His Excellency Mathieu Kérékou, people of Benin march on, confident in this country’s inexhaustible creativity and firmly President of the Republic of Benin, resolved to shape its destiny. By the grace of God, our country happily thrives in tranquility— on the Occasion of the Celebration far from the horrors of war, ruin, and disaster caused by intolerance, extremism, and the mur- of Independence Day derous folly of mankind.