Ugandan leader in plea for end to protectionism

A leading African statesman has called on Ireland to help "break" European and North American protectionism that restricts access for African goods to Western markets.

The President of Uganda, Mr Yoweri Museveni, said this was the greatest service Ireland could perform for developing countries, even more important than giving aid. Speaking in Dublin yesterday on the first day of a three-day state visit, he linked his appeal to Uganda's recent support for Ireland's successful bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

Mr Museveni, who has been President of Uganda since 1986, met the President, Mrs McAleese, in Aras an Uachtarain yesterday morning and later met the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in Government Buildings. The President hosted a State dinner in his honour in Dublin Castle last night.

To coincide with his visit, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, announced emergency aid of £75,000 to help the Ugandan authorities contain an outbreak of the deadly Ebola disease in the north of the country. The money will be channelled through the World Health Organisation.

In his speech at UCD, Mr Museveni criticised "hypocritical" Western politicians who preached the message of the "global village" and then implemented policies that negated this message. "We don't want parasitic, unfair globalisation. We want mutually beneficial globalisation. If one part of the global village is permanently cheating another part, the village will break up."

Through the slave trade and the extraction by colonists of raw materials, Africa had been indispensable in emancipating Europe and North America from underdevelopment and poverty, he said. Colonialism robbed Africa of a strong middle class and left the continent under the control of an "incompetent rump" of administrators.

However, it was pointless to express bitterness about past mistakes in the relationship between Europe and Africa, Mr Museveni said. "Africa, too, must also take some blame for its problems."

Mr Museveni said it was more important to concentrate on present problems, especially unfair trading arrangements.

Africa accounted for only 2 per cent of world trade, and less than 1 per cent of manufacturing output. It produced low value-added products and efforts to build processing plants in Africa met with resistance from the developed countries.

Aid and debt cancellation alone could not resolve the marginalisation of Africa. In some ways, they reinforced this problem by requiring countries to liberalise their economies while other nations reinforced protectionism.

Mr Museveni's visit continues today with a civic reception at the Mansion House in Dublin, followed by a presentation at the IDA. He then flies to Cork for a number of engagements at agricultural and industrial sites.