EUROPE VERSUS AFRICA

Extract of a Speech delivered in The Hague, Netherlands by Former President of South Africa Frederik Willem De Klerk on 25 October 2013.

"A strong Europe is in the best interests of Africa. Africa still receives most of its investment from Europe and conducts most of its trade with the continent. Despite the much-publicized expansion of Chinese interest in Africa, it is only the sixth largest investor in the continent following the United States, France, Britain, Malaysia and South Africa. There are also strong historical and cultural ties between the two continents.

Africa is getting the impression that it does not occupy a significant place in Europe’s strategic planning. This is a mistake. Europe would do well to reconsider Africa’s enormous potential and its growing strategic importance. According to the World Bank economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to exceed 5% on average between 2013-2015 because of high commodity prices worldwide and strong consumer spending on the continent. Total African GDP is expected to reach U.S.$ 2.6 trillion by 2020. The region will remain one of the fastest in the world. In 2012 about a quarter of African countries grew at 7% or higher. Rapid urbanisation on the continent is increasing demands for infrastructure investment in power, transportation, hospitals and schools. Current infrastructure expenditure of about US$ 45 billion a year is less than half the amount that will be required to fund these projects.

The central reality is that sub-Saharan Africa constitutes the largest area of under-developed real estate in the world. There are about the same number of people in its 24 million square kilometres as there are in the 3.3 million square kilometres of India. The continent is endowed with enormous mineral resources in a commodity hungry world and it has virtually untapped agricultural potential. So, Africa presents Europe with enormous opportunities.

However, there is another important reason why Europe should be interested in the future success of Africa. It is because, Europe, much more than any other continent needs a prosperous Africa. Crop failures, economic or political crises on the continent, could turn the present trickle of African refugees across the Mediterranean Sea into an unstoppable torrent. For all of these reasons Europe needs to focus more attention on Africa.

But Africa also needs a strong Europe that will be able to play its proper role in the world. But to achieve this, Europe will need to resolve its current challenges. It must make progress with its integration project or it must develop some other design, it must restore confidence in its guiding vision and convince the Euro-sceptics to rejoin the project; and it must address its potential catastrophic demographic crisis.

Whatever happens, events in Europe will continue to play an important role in the future of Africa. However, what happens in Africa will also have a significant impact on Europe. Inevitably, Europe is going to have to give Africa much more attention in its strategic worldwiew."