A two-day summit of the Afro-European leaders was held in Portuguese capital Lisbon last week.
Some European nations, apparently driven by worries over their own security, have felt the need to explore ways to lessen the miseries of the Africans.
Though the Africans realize that it is the duty of the Africans themselves to find a way out of their extreme backwardness, they believe that their erstwhile colonial masters should acknowledge that the present state of the continent is the direct result of their greedy exploitation.
The African participants in the Lisbon conference said that they were not begging for anything but were within their rights if they demanded the redressing of the past wrongs against them. They are interested in forging a strategic partnership with the Europeans who can provide the huge capital investment for sustainable economic, political and social progress to the African people.
The European participants are aware that their financial investments and technical support are vital for raising the economic competitiveness of the African states.
A major problem faced by African nations is their raw materials fetch only a very low price in the international market while the finished products exported from the advanced countries are priced very high. Something should be done to correct this disparity.
The African continent is also burdened with more than $ 350 billion debt. The situation is further confounded by an unfavorable trade balance. It is apparently because of their fear of increasing the debt burden that the African leaders showed little interest in mere loans and other forms of financial assistance. What they wanted was a relationship of partnership and cooperation in their struggle for all-round progress.
The leaders are also worried by the realization that they would be marginalized under the merciless new world order that gives full freedom to the market forces.
Their worst fear is that they would have to remain passive bystanders while the Americans, China and Europeans would be fighting for the African markets. Their miseries would further be worsened by the trade policies of the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund.
However another factor in favor of the African states is that their achieving a reasonable level of economic progress would be in the best interests of the rest of the world.
It has also been pointed out that the security of Europe is closely linked to the security and economic prosperity of Africa.
The European leaders participating in the Lisbon conference were keen to reassure the African leaders of doing their best to help Africa achieve economic progress, though they did not come up with any concrete method to do it.
Africa should benefit from the new world order, which by no means is the monopoly of the wealthy nations. The continent should work together as a single integrated unit if it is not to be marginalized in a world of rapid progress and achievements.
It is the duty of the developed countries, particularly Europe, to relieve the poverty-stricken people of Africa of their burden of debt.
Though the African leaders did not succeed in forging a strategic partnership with the Europeans they have succeeded in making the Europeans understand the significance of such a relationship.
However, the Europeans would be encouraged to make a broad partnership with Africa as a strategy to counter the scramble for the rich African resources by the United States, China and other world powers.
Apparently, under the present situation the European countries have no choice but to double their efforts to strengthen their cooperation with the African states in the coming years, particularly by supporting the democratic governments and human rights activities.
The conference has also sowed the seeds of new hope in the African people that they would finally be liberated from the grip of poverty and disease. It is also hoped that the United States would refrain from creating problems for the continent to protect its own interests.
