Barroso listens to Africa

FR - DE

On Friday 24 June, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, will fly out for a four-day trip to Africa, where he will visit South Africa, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. With an eye to the forthcoming G8 Summit at Gleneagles at the beginning of July, Mr Barroso aims to gather sufficient information to persuade the world's aid donors of the need to invest much more in the African continent in order to bring about an improvement in trade, security, education and the cultural sector.

"The situation in Africa remains intolerable. We can no longer stand by as 25 000 people die of hunger every day," declared the Commission President. He pointed out, however, that a step had been taken in the right direction the previous week, when the twenty-five Member States had agreed to a substantial increase in development aid. By 2010 this aid will have increased from 46 billion euros to 66 billion euros a year.

Speaking just hours before he left, Mr Barroso added: "The Commission must not relax its efforts, which is why it is important to listen to what the people of Africa have to say before the next dates in the international calendar: the G8 in July followed by the Conference in September in New York for the mid-term review of the Millennium Development Goals and finally, in December, the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong".

To see for himself the diversity of the African continent, the Commission President wanted to visit three States facing different economic and political challenges. He will therefore start his visit on 24 June in South Africa, which has emerged as one of the major players in Africa. While he is there he will have talks with the President, Thabo Mbeki, and with various representatives of civil society. The spread of AIDS and ways of preventing and treating the disease will be central to these discussions.

On 26 June, Mr Barroso will travel to Mozambique, an African State which has made good use of its foreign aid. While there he will visit Zambezi Province, where the EU is providing 185 million euros to finance a major development programme (roads, a hospital, a bridge, etc.). A meeting is also scheduled with the President of Mozambique, Armando Guebuza, newly elected last December.

Mr Barroso will conclude his tour on 27 June in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the electoral process under way there and reiterate the European Commission's support for political transition in DRC. The EU is the largest provider of funds for the electoral process. After talks with the Head of State, Joseph Kabila, the President of the Commission will address the National Assembly and the Senate in Kinshasa.

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• Q & A: New EU Strategy for Africa (12/10/2005)
• EU Commission President appeals, with Bono, to put EU on track to double development aid (9/6/2005)
• Highlights: Bono and Barroso Appeal for Africa and Doubling of EU Development Aid (9/6/2005)
• Barroso, Bono Press Conference on EU Development Aid and Africa (9/6/2005)