African leaders meet on trade
2004-06-07 13:53
Kampala - Nine African presidents and government officials opened a regional trade summit in Kampala on Monday, with a call to unite on issues of international trade to ensure a just result for Africa.
"We shall gain better results if we negotiated as a single unit than if we negotiated as individual countries. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) remains the only vehicle to ensure that international trade is equitable and just," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Monday.
Museveni, who was addressing the opening session of a two-day Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa), convened in the Ugandan capital Kampala to discuss trade and investments in the region, also urged African countries to improve infrastructure to benefit all member states.
"What we need to look at is to invest in common infrastructure like roads, rail and coastal facilities that should be looked at as regional rather than national.
"These facilities should be jointly manned and involve landlocked countries and coastal countries to improve competitiveness," Museveni, who is the incoming Comesa chairman, explained.
The summit is attended by Presidents Azali Assoumani of the Comoro Islands, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi, Domitien Ndayizeye of Burundi, Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, Levi Mwanawasa of Zambia, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Omar el-Beshir of Sudan, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is represented by Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, Egypt by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, while Libya is represented by a cabinet minister.
Commonwealth Secretary General Don Mackinnon is also attending.