Africa tells west: scrap trade barriers

The world's rich countries should spend less time telling African countries how to run their economies and instead concentrate on scrapping their harmful trade-distorting subsidies and stop hiring African health workers, South Africa's finance minister, Trevor Manuel, said yesterday.

Attending a conference in London on business in Africa ahead of this week's G8 summit, Mr Manuel said Africa was becoming an economic success story, with growth set for another strong 5% this year and budget deficits reduced to almost zero.

"It's not about lecturing African leaders any more. We will maintain these growth rates and good fiscal management," he said. "What we need is a timetable to get rid of trade-distorting subsidies."

Mr Manuel's views were reinforced at a summit in Libya of the 53-member African Union, which ended yesterday. The pan-continental body passed a resolution expressing thanks for efforts on aid and debt but calling on the G8 "to establish a fair and equitable trading system and to facilitate Africa's access to fair markets through ... the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers ... and trade-distorting subsidies and domestic support, especially in agriculture".

Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, who attended the AU meeting, said that while debt cancellation and aid were necessary, fairer trade between the west and Africa was crucial.

He told reporters: "Most countries, given the chance, would prefer to trade themselves out of poverty rather than live on handouts." He will repeat the message in a speech at St Paul's cathedral tonight.

The prime minister, Tony Blair, has made securing a better deal on debt, aid and trade for Africa key targets at Gleneagles, but while aid is set to be increased and some debt written off, a deal on getting rid of harmful agricultural subsidies in Europe and the US looks as far away as ever.

Europe's Common Agricultural Policy slaps high tariffs on many imports from poor countries and subsidises exports of surplus produce from Europe, undermining the livelihoods of many African farmers.

Mr Manuel said that dismantling agricultural protectionism in the west would have to be accompanied by support for African countries which would have to adjust to freer world trade flows.

He also said Africa was in urgent need of a million health workers to combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria but was afraid of losing them to rich countries. "Please don't steal our health workers," he said.

He said it was not acceptable that so many Africans were going to university in Britain and the US.

"If we want to skill people, we need to rebuild African universities," he said.

He said Africa was grateful for the debt relief G8 leaders were about to approve but said it was still not clear what the package would be worth.

Levy Mwanawasa, the president of Zambia, told the conference he was grateful to the current G8 leaders, in particular Mr Blair, for debt relief to the country.

There were dissenting voices, led by the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, who said Africa should stop accepting handouts.