Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon says that Africa has the commodities and opportunities to develop but this can only be done with the help of other Continents. CNBC Africa’s George Ndirangu spoke to him and started by asking how global companies are adapting smaller nations in their development plans.
ONDIMBA: I think it has to do with Africa’s new generation; Africans have been able to attend the best schools in universities all over the world. They are coming back home full of ideas, and then along with the leaders, we now develop plans that are pretty much focused on developing our countries. We know that Africa is the last frontier. Everybody wants to come and invest in Africa because in Africa, we have a lot of opportunities. When it comes to commodities, everything is there. Our message today is that, ‘come develop the continent but with us’. This time around we have to be part of it. Therefore, we have to prepare for that and focus on hosting and importing programmes such as infrastructure that connects the continent by road, by rails; we have to also provide the energy as we want to start major industrial projects. We have to make sure, that when it comes to securing agriculture in the environment, we have to be very keen on making sure that we work together to save the environment because it will have a tremendous consequence for Africa in terms of lack of water. Also, the last challenge for us is to keep the continent in peace and those efforts we have been making have not been recognised by international communities. We are tackling many problems together and at the same time, and making sure that we also have democratic states.
We are talking about financial freedom for these smaller countries, but we are still tied down to loans from past developed engagements with these bigger economies, how do we work out this scenario as it is still a very crucial issue.
ONDIMBA: It’s a very difficult as we go along but you know lessons from the past are important not to repeat mistakes. One has to be patient, implement reforms and move along. Let’s look forward.
So there is this article that said, regional trade arguments are becoming more complex as we reach a new mega-rhythm of trade, , but we could have more laws as we continue with our exports, the number was 2.7 billion. What do you think about how we are working out inter- regional trade on the continent?
ONDIMBA: This is an area where we are weak. But I just said it is important first to build our infrastructure. We have to connect our regions. If I am in Kigali, I cannot drive down from Libreville to Kigali, so as long as I won’t be able to do that, Regional development will not happen. We need to connect road and railways and it is important right now, to develop those common strategies at the African Union level to make sure that the whole continent is connected and that we also develop energy to start projects. And also, what is important for us is to forget about the flag and focus more on developing an economic project that is going to be good for each other.
The west has been rich in energy and of course most of the policies on the African continents are derived from there, but Gabon as many African countries is rich in natural resources and these are finite, how do you welcome renewable energy as sustainable development.
ONDIMBA: We have chosen to focus on Hydroelectricity in Gabon as we are blessed with a country that has covered 88% on rainforest, many rivers so it’s natural for us to look into hydro energy. But we also trying to see if we can develop solar energy, but it is for each country to look into what alternative energy it wants to focus on and we should have regional talks to see how our countries can come together. For instance, in central Africa, the biggest hydroelectricity project will be the INGA dam, if we were to build that dam, it will provide electricity for the lower half of the continent, just one dam. So then we have to think how together we can invest in such a programme and this, we have not been able to do enough.
Finally, faltering economies, corruption, money laundering and union grievances, these are four of the biggest challenges that are faced by every president on the African continent. What’s your take on what is happening?
ONDIMBA: Corruption is a disease and we should get it out of our system. Easier said than done, most of us have been trying for years to rule out corruption. It is vital for us as we want to develop our continent. You hear a lot about corruption in Africa because that is not the trend. You don’t hear much about corruption elsewhere, it’s still there too and it is within approach; there is not one president in Africa that hasn’t been approached with special deals. So it is not a situation where one should be lecturing others, we all have to be involved because it comes from every direction, it is not just African specialty. We should realise that it is a big problem for us, and that if we want to develop our countries, we should completely kill out corruption. But again, I don’t think we will be able to do that alone, other continents have to be involved.
What’s the relationship like with Rwanda?
ONDIMBA: We have excellent diplomatic relations with Rwanda, we work together to maintain peace in the central African regions. We are now in the phase to look how we can boost economic partnership between our countries. That is what is going on at the moment. There have been trips by Gabonese people from administration, business sectors, some Rwandans have come to Gabon, so we are taking a little time to make sure that our partnership is going to be a strong one and I am very confident about that.
