We recently organised a conference on this topic with African speakers who are not only opposed to Western-imposed false solutions, but who also want the G8 to consider their local alternatives.
Speakers included representatives from social movements and unions in Kenya, South Africa and Niger.
"The NEPAD is not a people’s vision, it is a leaders’ vision," declared Austin Muneke from The International Free Union Confederation in Kenya. He deplores the fact that African citizens and civil society have not been involved in the creation of this new economic partnership. According to Abdourahmane Ousmane, a journalist from Niger, this strategy bears an eerie resemblance to Structural Adjustment Programmes imposed by the World Bank and IMF which have left Africa worse off than 20 years ago. Together with our partners, we are trying to reverse the mistakes of the past two decades.
