Kikwete calls for collaboration between African nations

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania has called on Africa to send a "clear message" to next month's crucial meeting of the G20, the world's major economic powers, to help mitigate the effects of the global financial crisis on the continent. Speaking at a conference in Dar es Salaam organized jointly by the Tanzanian government and the International Monetary Fund, Kikwete said the crisis posed "the greatest danger everÔǪ in recent history" to African development, threatening to ÔÇ£reverse or even wipe out the hard won socio-economic gains made by African countries over the past few decades."  He said that Africa needed to speak with one voice about its response to the crisis, and that the conference, which includes African finance ministers and central bank governors, business leaders, academics and members of civil society, offered a unique opportunity to do so.  "With the world economy at a crossroads, risks facing sub-Saharan Africa have intensified,ÔÇØ Kikwete said. ÔÇ£If the concerted efforts of policy makers around the globe fail to re-establish trust in the international financial system, the world economy risks a deeper and more prolonged recession.  "Sub-Saharan African countries would suffer from a steeper reduction in the external demand for its commodities, dwindling foreign exchange earnings and remittances, declining corporate profitability, incomes and aid flows. Consequently, growth in sub-Saharan Africa may drop more sharply than envisaged, risking erosion of the gains painfully achieved."  *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *