Horn Of Africa Nations To Use EU Model

By R.Ravichandran
http://www3.bernama.com/general/ge0404_5.htm

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- Seven countries in the Horn of Africa which are emerging rapidly from decades of political instability are now working towards a grouping in the model of the European Union (EU), Sudan's Foreign Minister Dr Mustafa Osman said here Thursday.

The seven countries which are strategically located in the Horn of Africa are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya,Sudan, Somalia and Uganda.

Dr Mustafa said the plan was to turn the region from an area of political conflicts and instability into a zone of peace, development and prosperity.

He did not rule out the possibility of the introduction of a common currency like the Euro once the idea became a reality.

"We are looking into the possibility of a confederation of the Horn of Africa nations," he told the media here.

Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia and Uganda are also members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)which held a three-day special meeting of its Foreign Ministers here to discuss terrorism.Dr Mustafa led Sudan's delegation to the meeting which ended Wednesday.

Dr Mustafa said towards achieving the creation of the EU model, the countries concerned were now striving for regional peace, food security, health programmes and economic integration which would be the key elements of the plan.

He said the countries concerned agreed towards getting rid of any lingering political differences and to create an environment conducive for more development, investment, trade and tourism.

As part of efforts to achieve this objective, a freeway between Khartoum (Sudan) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) is to be opened next month and a Sudan-Ethiopia rail connection is in the pipeline.

The seven countries with a combined population of 200 million possess vast economic potential but political and ideological differences, border disputes, hunger, drought and other natural disasters have prevented them from working closely for their common good.

Dr Mustafa said the seven countries, which are also members of the Djibouti-based Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) founded in 1986, were making joint efforts towards achieving peace and security with more frequent meetings among their leaders.

He said positive developments in recent years indicated that the countries in the Horn of Africa, which were once known for wars, conflicts and refugee problems, were now moving towards, what he termed, as "a programme for peace."

For example, Ethiopia and Eritrea which fought a war following a border dispute are currently engaged in peaceful negotiations, while Somalia is trying to put the country together under new President Abdiquassim
Salad Hassan after more than 10 years of civil war and political disintegration.

Sudan itself which once faced political instability is now moving ahead with rapid economic development and political reforms as peace negotiations were underway with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to end
an 18-year civil war in the southern part of Africa's largest country.

"Everything depends on how far we succeed in moving forward.But (I think) success will not elude us," he said.
-- BERNAMA

To a certain degree I would like to see more unity in this region
some countries are better at peace beyong borders then others, where as the rest have issues within and beyond the borders (we won't name names)

But then again it makes me suspicious that 4 out of 7 of those countries belong to the OIC
strikes a cord makes me remember mentionings of the "Iron Curtain" of Africa...for those of you who know what that is???

I am not to sure about trying to copy the EU i don't like the sound of that either

Don't you think then by forming a union based on economical trade would help to open up that Iron Curtain?
It seems to be working for the EU, why not transcribe it in Africa?

Okie dokie
Yared I'm about to take you to the corner of this room and explain what I just done said

[whisper]
ok bro what a meant was a while back I had read this article on how Ethiopia is the Iron Curtain of Africa in terms of Islam, therefore if Ethiopia is converted in to an all muslim state then so will the rest of africa I think thats what Gadaffi said but DON"T quote me I don't have it down on paper anywhere here
[/whisper]
But to answer your question
Look at the countries in the EU, the ones that choose to be involved and were allowed to be involved are well established countries that have great economic standings.
Accept it none of the countries you just mentioned apart from Uganda are having any positive change in their Economy, kenya is going downhill, ethiopian is already downhill, etc etc.
Do you really think all these countries will be able to support one major infrastructure??



[ This Message was edited by: NefasuAmetayn on 2002-05-02 14:24 ]

Nefasu, who says you have to be in good economic shape to start such a Union? B
y the way you said Ethiopia's economy is going down...i'd like to inform you that Ethiopia was among the 10 top states of the world to last year (2001) of high growth rates. It registered at a 7% growth rate. But anyways that is not even important however.

Rather does it not make sense to foster economic trade no matter if ure economy is weak or strong. The whole basis of forming a regional economic bloc is so that countries can benefit from each others market. It seems to me that you are saying Ethiopia cannot do so because they do not have a booming economy. It is quite the opposite sis, economic union rather enhances the boosting of an economy.

You mentioned the age old paranaoia that many Ethiopians have of being converted to Islam. I understand the fear, but is just a fear and nothing more. Islam has been in Ethiopia for quite some time and it will be there for a long time, it is nothing new. The North-Central part of Ethiopia will forever remain Christian, and the periphery will always be Muslim. Long are the days of forced conversion. The Ethiopian society is one of religious tolerance. The only way that the increase of one religion over another is if there is a major difference between the birth rates among both religious groups.

Christianity constitutes a little over 60% the population in the center regions of the country. Ethiopian Orthodox=50%(Amhara & Tigray regions) and Protestant=10%(Western/Central Oromia and Southern Peoples Region). Islam constitutes about 35% of the population and is predominant around the periphery regions of Afar, Somali, Eastern/Southern Oromia, Beni-Shangul regions.

The above stats are according to the 1994 cencus.

Ok Yared I take that back Ethiopia's Economy is rising

But for a union I believe that some economic stability is required. You can't have some countries feeding of others...(I couldn't think of a euphemism)...perhaps a union wouldn't be as bad as I initially thought. It would for example enhance the loyalty of those countries hence strengthening that area as a whole.
But I really don't think any of those countries are ready for it. They have to fend for themselves before they start relying on each other.
Know what I am saying or do you not agree?

No I don't agree with the "fend for themselves" argument neither unfortunately

Those days are long gone if indeed we are moving toward a progressive society. Today Ethiopia is trying to foster peace and economic development in the Somali, region. Why would they do this you ask? Why does the US or other developed nations try to help other nation in general? Because it is in their interest to do so economically. Not only Somalia, but Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda can actually be a market for many Ethiopian goods such as wheat, barley, sorghum, sugar, tea, coffee, hydro-electricity ect...Plus we must understand that Somalia has a very long border with Ethiopia, thus it is also in our best interests that we oversee in their stability otherwise their problems can easily spread to Ethiopia as we have seen in the past where an influx of Somali refugees have flooded in from Gode to Addis Ababa. Also this lack of distability and poverty are a breeding ground for Islamic Fundamentalism because people have become hopeless and will turn to anything that professes change. Therefore in order to prevent such instability we must help them development their economy as this fosters peaceful relations to all in the region.

In the past year Ethiopia and Sudan have created good relations for such inter-regional trade. They are already working out on a deal to start importing Sudanese oil which would come at a cheaper price than what we are getting from Saudi Arabia which comes to us indirectly from Djibouti, meaning if we have to pay for port fees and import tax on that oil. At the same time Ethiopia is currently working on a hydro-electric project based in Debre Markos that would help electrify northeastern Sudan. Because this project is benefiting Sudan, they have already paid for 40% of its cost of production leaving the 60% for Ethiopia. These are the types of mutually benefial projects that are fostered by economical regional union. In so doing also, it also forces strong ties and prevents war because these countries are now economically dependent on each other.

so you don't think Ethiopia should establish her own economical stability in order to assist Somalia as you put it?
Coz the way it looks now to me (PLEASE correct me if I am wrong) Ethiopia doesn't seem to support its own self...

You are exactly right Nefasu, but what better way to support herself than by creating markets for its economy in which to sell its products. It is called an investment!

But why does it have to be within a union, some of those countries produce the same products as Ethiopia and vice versa, wouldn't it be better to learn to provide those goods to other countries that do not have these provisions??

Not necessarily because Ethiopia produces much grain and cereal, oilseeds, pulses along with coffee, sugar, and cotton whereas in Somalia they don't. In Somalia they have wireless communication business and fish products while Ethiopia doesn't. In Sudan they produce oil, while Ethiopia doesn't. Ethiopia's 3 largest export is now Gold, where there is demand for it in Kenya. The list can go on and on. But forget even the fact that they have many resources that each others don't.

Today most of these countries import our products from more developed countries like Italy, Saudi, Germany, US, China, Taiwan ect...however when we do so the prices are higher because of transport fees and customs fees ect, we have no choice...But instead if we imported these products from our neighbors in this Economic Union it would be much more cheaper and would enhance more trade and business within our respective states. This union would bring down trade barriers and allow for the free flow of trade across our border because there will be no customs fees and taxes. This whole process will therefore make us less dependent on the North and more dependent on ourselves, Africans. Why do we wish to continue to be dependent on western countries when we in fact can do everything ourselves?

Then once we have grown stronger and more stable economically from the inter-regional trade, we can then even talk about monetary union. In monetary union the benefits are greater if we wish to compete at a global level, because now we have more people and business backing up that money and thus plays a greater role in increasing favorable trade conditions for the region as a whole.

Yared, where do you get your numbers from? i'd like to see them because i'm really trying to follow up with its economy. from what i've heard however, things haven't been so well since the recent war with Eritrea. just check the link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1886000/1886940.stm

anyways, i agree with what Nefasu said earlier about the Horn joining up into an EU-type organization. i'm not liking the idea too much. not yet at least...

Biruk, the war ended in 2000. The figures I am refering to are from 2001. Even before the war(1998) Ethiopia was at 6% growth rate.
This is not to say that Ethiopia is doing just fine, but clearly she is on the right track. I mean for Ethiopia to be really well off it would need something like a 30% growth rate, however we all know that is unrealistic. My point is that Ethiopia is not in a decline, it is on an increase however this does not mean it still doesnt need a boost! There is always the potential of doubling those numbers.

It seems to me most of you saying you dont like the European Union's way of integration. Why is this? You have yet to say what exactly is wrong with it? Sounds also you are saying you dont like it because it is a "european" thing and thus should not be imitated. However if it works, and it has been working for them, maybe it can work for the Horn of Africa. In fact if you have actually had the chance to study The EU model, it actually makes a lot of sense for Ethiopia to adopt it. The EU model is based on superiority of state populations. This is why Germany and France, but especially Germany benefit the most as they have the largest population in the EU and thus this overides in the EU parliament as the decisions are being made.
If The Horn of Africa was to adopt this same notion of population proportionality, Ethiopia would clearly be the most beneficiary as she has 65 million people check the references please if you dont believe my numbers. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/et.html . While is Sudan is at a distant second with 36 million http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/su.html . Somalia at 7.5 million http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/so.html . Kenya 30 million http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ke.html .

In any case I suggest we all try to really study the EU model before we just give our unscholarly opinions about something. Study it first before criticizing it.