'No excuse for African poverty'
2005-07-21 21:08
Cape Town - There is absolutely no excuse for Africa's citizens to be poor when they live in such a resource-rich continent, internationally renowned Kenyan conservationist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai said on Thursday.
Speaking at Newlands forest station in Cape Town, during a visit to South Africa aimed at forging closer environmental links with her home country, she stressed the importance of Africans understanding "that the burden of alleviating poverty within our region, is our burden".
Maathai, who is also her country's assistant minister for environment, natural resources and wildlife, said it was especially important African leaders understood this.
Responding to a question whether the G8 decision to cancel debt was meaningful, or simply political, she replied: "Well, as I said the other day the G8 are our friends.
'Alleviating poverty our responsibility'
"They are trying, especially the British Prime Minister (Tony Blair), to mobilise public opinion to support us in Africa.
"But it is also very important for us Africans to understand the burden of alleviating poverty within our region, is our burden, especially those of us who are in leadership.
"And we must do everything to ensure the resources within this continent are used to alleviate poverty in this region - there is absolutely no excuse for us to be so poor when we live in such a beautiful resource-rich continent," she said.
Examples of help the G8 could provide included cancelling debt, increasing trade, lifting some of the barriers that made it difficult for Africa to access markets, removing subsidies that were stifling production, and increasing financial aid.
"But the greatest responsibility probably falls on us Africans, especially on the leadership of Africa."
SA's efforts praised
She praised South Africa's efforts to contain invasive species - which pose one of the greatest threats to the ecological and economic well-being of Africa - saying the country was "definitely doing much better than I have seen anywhere else on the continent".
She warmed to one of her favourite themes, that when the environment is destroyed, plundered or mismanaged, people's quality of life, and that of future generations, is undermined.
Referring to the forestry industry in her own country, and the eucalyptus plantations that had sprang up to meet the demands for timber from "the telephone people and the building people", she said many were focused only on immediate economic gain.
"We are not thinking long-term; we are not thinking future generations," she warned.
Maathai, 65, has received numerous awards over the past two decades in recognition of her conservation efforts, culminating in her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, last December.
She has a PhD in Anatomy, and is also the holder of an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Yale University.
- SAPA