Ethiopia at the G-8 and G-20 Summits
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi took part in the G8 and G20 Summits, which were held in Canada from June 25th to 26th June and from 26th to 27th June respectively. While the discussions of G8 Summit were organized around the theme of Accountability and Effectiveness in International Assistances, the theme of the G20 Summit focused on the global economic crisis and possible solutions for sustainable and balanced growth.
At both Summits, Ethiopia was encouraged by the organization and content of the discussions and the level of their relevance to Africa. Ethiopia positively views the increasing importance and recognition by the G20 leaders of the development need of Africa. In this connection, Ethiopia welcomes the consensus reached by the G20 leaders to raise the capital of Africa Development Bank by 200 per cent.
With regard to the outcomes of the Summit, Ethiopia is optimistic that the mechanism devised by the G20 leaders to tackle the ongoing global economic challenges will be effective. Despite the fact that much focus has been paid at the Summit on cutting deficits and reducing public debts in the developed countries, Ethiopia believes that the economic stability resulting from the above mentioned austerity measures will eventually benefit Africa and the developing world.
Ethiopia also hopes that the contractionary measures envisaged by some of the major industrialized countries would not harm the sustainability of the high economic growth rates in Africa. Moreover, it is Ethiopia's conviction that ensuring the permanent and institutional representation of Africa at the G20 will enhance the credibility and effectiveness of the G20 as a truly global mechanism for international economic governance.
Ethiopia also welcomes the outcome of the G8 Summit, which reiterated its commitment to continue its support for development and a strong partnership with developing countries, particularly Africa. The 5 billion US$ pledge of additional funds that the G8 countries have made to mobilize over the next five years for improving maternal health and reducing child mortality in developing countries is worth mentioning.
It is hoped that the acknowledgment made by the G8 leaders at the Muskoka Summit of the high economic growth rates that had been attained in Africa immediately prior to the onset of the global economic and financial crisis would send positive signal about the African continent to the international business community.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister participated at the Summits following the invitation extended to him by the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper. Ethiopia, however, strongly feels that the participation of African countries should not continue to be on the basis of the will of the host countries. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi expressed hope that the issue will be settled at the AU Summit due to be held in Kampala.