IATP's Alexandra Spieldoch and Anne Laure Constantin are in Accra, Ghana for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) XII meeting through April 24. They will be blogging periodically on events in Accra.
Yao Graham and his colleagues at Third World Network Africa are working hard to strengthen democracy in Africa. They believe greater democracy will help put the continent on the road to development.
In his opening speech to the international Civil Society Forum in Accra this week, Yao pointed to the many countries where democracy is at risk in Africa (Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Darfur…), but he also emphasized that, generally, the political space has opened up. Building stronger civil society movements in West Africa will ultimately strengthen the democratic processes nationally and regionally.
Civil society in West Africa is particularly concerned with the impacts of mining on rural communities. At a time when high commodity prices are portrayed internationally as good news for those who export mineral products, the reality in the region is that mining is not benefiting people: on the contrary, it is threatening livelihoods, those of workers in the sector, but also those of farmers because of the competition for land, water pollution and deforestation. While African countries can claim high growth rates, “growth without redistribution, without development and equity, is meaningless,” said Graham. Corporate control over natural resources in Africa was strongly denounced and participants recommended that people's movements should be strengthened in order to hold governments accountable. Otherwise, they fear that the new commodities boom will only lead to “a new scramble for Africa."
