Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged African leaders on Sunday to practise good governance and democracy to rebuild the continent, and told the world's rich nations to keep their promises of aid.
Annan said peace and security, development, human rights and the rule of law were crucial for pulling Africa out of its quagmire of poverty and wars, but criticised G8 nations for not keeping their pledges on aid to the world's poorest continent.
He challenged Africa to reinforce the progress made in recent years, a period that has seen wars end in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, which last year held its first democratic elections in more than 40 years. He said the task for Africa now was to focus on debt relief and fair trade.
"It is vital that Africa lead its own development process," he told a gathering at the Fifth Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture, which included Mandela, who marked his 89th birthday last week. Annan asked the G8 group of rich nations to meet their commitment made at a summit in Scotland to increase development aid to Africa by $25 billion a year by 2010.
"The only promises that truly count are promises met," he said. "The G8's track record, to be frank, is not very good." Annan is the chairman of the Africa Progress Panel - an independent body focused on fulfilment of these promises.
Noting that aid alone will not end poverty in Africa, he urged African leaders to stop conflicts in many spots on the continent, including northern Uganda and Darfur.
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