Sharp Words from Ethiopia's Prime Minister Zenawi at Clinton Summit

By Mary Dillard
Guest Contributor
Afro-Netizen

This week, coinciding with the opening session of the United Nations, the Clinton Global Initiative is holding its third annual summit, inviting attendees from around the world to discuss what can be done about some of the most serious issues of our day. The main themes addressed by this year’s conference are: poverty alleviation, education, climate change and global health.  I attended the conference on behalf of Afro-Netizen and was charged with the task of identifying which of the issues discussed would be relevant to Afro-Netizen’s audience. 

It was an interesting day.  This morning’s plenary discussed the issue of climate change. Included on the panel, moderated by Tom Brokaw, were former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Norway, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Often in discussions of development and climate change, Africa is treated as a footnote or as the world’s forgotten stepchild.  PM Meles was the only panelist from a developing country, and fortunately for Africa, he held it down.  Each of his remarks drew applause from the audience, which wasn’t true of the other panelists.  While Blair and Harlem Brundtland talked about the need to create incentives for conservation in countries like China, the United States and Britain, the Ethiopian Prime Minister highlighted his country's leadership in organic farming methods, efforts at creating biofuel alternatives and success in generating electricity through hydroelectric power.  According to Meles, Congo and Ethiopia combined have the ability, through the level of hydroelectric power that they produce, to fuel the energy needs of the entire continent.  The main reason why this has not happened is that the infrastructure to allow this type of energy sharing to occur is not in place.

He was direct in his advocacy for Africa. “Africa contributed nothing to global warming because we did not develop in the way that the large industrialized nations did.”  It needed to be said because most people in the room knew that Africans are already paying the price for the environmental effects of global warming, and this is expected to get worse.  “Africa’s only option,” according to the Prime Minister, “is to grow in a carbon neutral fashion.”  And guess what?  Ethiopia is a pioneer in Africa in creating ethanol from sugar or corn.  But, the trucks and cars currently on the roads in Ethiopia can’t run on the biofuels that the country produces.  In order for this to change, developed nations are going to have to convince car manufacturers to partner with African nations and create flex fuel cars, allowing Africa to profit from its own agricultural production. 

The Prime Minister’s remarks raise the issue of fair trade policies in relation to Africa.  It is one thing for North Americans and Europeans to sit around and expound upon issues associated with global warming and sustainable development.  It is another thing altogether to hear African leaders say “Hey, we are not asking for your charity”  or, in the exact words of the Prime Minister, “This is an issue of rights, not a question of philanthropy.  We did not pollute and we deserve the right to sell our sugar here.” (an obvious dig at the farm subsidies and protectionist tariffs that the U.S. and European countries use to keep African crops out of their markets.) 

Applause again.  Go ‘head Meles!  It was refreshing to hear the perspective of an African leader and know that there were so many in the audience who agreed with him.  Let’s hope that participants at this forum will take his intervention seriously and truly partner with African nations so that Africans can reap the benefits of their own natural resources.

Mary Dillard is an Associate Professor of African History at Sarah Lawrence College.  Her research interests are education, health care, and gender studies in Africa.  She lives in New York City. 

 

Comments

[Sonja Ebron]

Thanks for this post on climate change and energy capabilities in Africa. I wish more attention was paid to this topic among African Americans. It is clear to me, at least, that Africa's energy production is of increasing interest to U.S. policymakers, and Blacks in America need to jump into the fray and join this discussion. We cover energy issues of interest to African Americans at blackEnergy, but we need to do a better job of covering energy and environmental issues on the continent. Thanks again for covering this important conference.

[Alula]

The fact that Meles is an excepational and exemplary leader in the whole of Africa is indisputable. He has proven this fact by leading Ethiopia (which used to be economically-the poorest and politically-the most unstable country in the horn)forward. That is why Meles is invited everywhere (except Tripoli) to deliver his sharpest messages being the pride of not only Ethiopia but also Africa.

[Mary Dillard]

"Number one basket case" is actually not an appropriate description for Ethiopia and is overused in describing African nations. I would have more of a complaint about the size of Ethiopia's defense budget than its agricultural budget. Clinton echoed Meles' call today but made an important point that sugar ethanol is preferable to corn or wheat, because ethanol developed from those products drives up food prices on items like pasta and cornmeal.

[Simon]

Errr... with that said and done, Is Ethiopia not still the No. one basket case in the whole continent of Africa. Are we to believe that it can produce biofuel while it can not feed its own people.

I guess it makes for good speech and some claping ;( I wish it was true.

Tell them to do what their rival to the north (Eritrea)are doing. Start by kicking out all the NGO and the people that make a rich nations a busket case, then I will start to believe the speech.

[Simon]

Errr... with that said and done, Is Ethiopia not still the No. one basket case in the whole continent of Africa. Are we to believe that it can produce biofuel while it can not feed its own people.

I guess it makes for good speech and some claping ;( I wish it was true.

Tell them to do what their rival to the north (Eritrea)are doing. Start by kicking out all the NGO and the people that make a rich nations a busket case, then I will start to believe the speech.