Africa-Press – Senegal. Former Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio pleaded, on Saturday, in Johannesburg, at the 6th BRICS media forum, for the formation of large regional blocs in Africa, inviting the People’s Republic of China to encourage the States of the continent to move towards this dynamic.
« Concerning our personal opinion, without interfering, China should encourage its African partners to engage resolutely in the construction of large regional blocks (…) I am convinced that the fragmentation of our States and the balkanization of our peoples in 54 states will weigh down all the efforts of Africans themselves and those of their greatest partners and friends, » said Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, introducing a communication entitled « Africa facing the challenges of innovative partnerships ». .
Speaking before some 200 participants – media leaders, journalists, experts, ministers, businessman, etc. – Mr. Gadio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal from 2000 to 2009, estimated that « 54 African States, it has been a ruinous and paralyzing competition since independence in the 1960s.
“The result, according to the member of the National Assembly, is there: zero emerging African countries. And yet in 1960, China and many Asian countries such as Africa faced the suffering inflicted on the peoples of the Third World by underdevelopment: regular famines, malnutrition, illiteracy, absence of basic infrastructure, health, education, internal conflicts, wars, etc. ».
Cheikh Tidiane Gadio noted that « all major Asian countries or all thousand-year-old or multi-century Asian nations are World Global Players or nations on the path to undeniable emergence ».
Africa, for its part, he deplores, “remained divided, weakened, and handed over to more powerful, better organized partners”.
As much as « China supports Africa at the United Nations and vice versa, as much as a friendly power », Beijing « should encourage African States to come together and build credible, viable and strong political and economic Unions » , he estimated.
According to him, « it is in China’s interest to speak to an entity bringing together the 15 ECOWAS States: 400 million inhabitants, 5 million km2, immense resources in petro-gas, coffee, cocoa , gold, diamond, bauxite, iron and other minerals including Uranium (…) ».
« In addition to all these abundant resources, the ECOWAS space like the other regions of Africa, holds the most precious resource like no other: the Youth resource. Nearly 300 million young people out of a population of 400 million, » said the former minister, stressing that these observations were also valid for the SADC (Southern African States Development Community).
According to Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, « an ECOWAS transformed into a federation of West African States could receive infrastructural and other mega-projects within the framework of the immense Silk Road projects ».
He believes that “talking to five African interlocutors representing strong regional federations would be more beneficial and more effective than talking to 54 states which are almost all still fallow and have similar needs”.
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