Africa South of the Sahara

Austria's relations with Africa have become more important since the country joined the European Union. Of Austria's 19 development assistance partner countries, 14 are situated in sub-Saharan Africa, and relations with Africa are also important for the consolidation of Vienna as the seat of major United Nations agencies. The region was a main focus of attention during the Swedish and Belgian EU presidencies in 2001, and the UN Security Council devoted 60 per cent of its time to African issues.

The Cotonou Agreement, signed in 2000 between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, enhanc ed the political dimension and political dialogue in the ongoing ACP-EU cooperation. The agreement describes respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law as "essential elements" of sustainable development. In accordance with the Cotonou conditions, discussions were held with several African partner countries where infringements of these "essential elements" had been identified.

The EU-Africa Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on 11 October was primarily called to review the follow-up to the action plan adopted at the EU-Africa Summit in Cairo in April 2000 and its eight priorities (conflict prevention, regional integration and integration into the world economy, the environment, HIV/AIDS, security of food supply, human rights and democracy, cultural property, and the debt problem). Other themes included the New African Initiative, terrorism, and the restructuring of the OAU into an African Union on EU lines.

Events in around one third of the countries tended to confirm the image of black Africa as a "disaster continent". With armed conflicts affecting more than 20 per cent of the population, and every tenth person infected with HIV/AIDS, black Africa is gradually becoming marginalized within the framework of globalisation. The general failure of economic development since independence has led to a rethinking of strategies for a political and economic renewal of the continent. The New African Initiative, which combines strategies drafted by South Africa and Senegal, was adopted by the heads of state and government of 15 African countries on 23 October in Abuja under the formal title of New Partnership for Africa's Development.

Austria, like the other EU states, welcomes this ambitious new initiative, not least because it sets out to solve the problems of Africa through African initiative and accepts that the primary responsibility for this rests with African leaders and political elites. Furthermore, it stresses the principles of democracy, responsible governance, the rule of law and human rights, peace and stability as well as key elements of development policy like conflict prevention and resolution, investment in human development, education, combating poverty, hunger and illness, and combating corruption and maladministration. It is to be hoped that this visionary concept will be systematically realised, despite the heterogeneous nature of the continent, and that the first steps that have already been taken will consolidate into a lasting development.

Regional Integration

The movement for the integration of the African continent rests on two pillars: the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), on the political side, and its economic pillar, the African Economic Community (AEC). Both are administered by the Secretary-General of the OAU, with which the EU conducts an institutionalised dialogue. The Constitutive Act for the setting up of an African Union (AU) under the terms of the OAU Charter was adopted at the Lomé summit in July 2000 and entered into force on 26 May 2001 after ratification by 36 member states. The long-serving OAU Secretary-General, Salim Ahmed Salim, was succeeded by Amara Essy from Côte d'Ivoire, who will now have the task of transforming the Organisation into the African Union by the 2002 summit in Pretoria.

The 25th summit meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Dakar (Senegal) was characterised by the will for peace, stability and regional integration. It condemned the activities of illegal armed forces in the countries of the Mano River Union (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea), where it had originally been intended to send a force from ECOMOG, the Community's military arm. Regional infrastructural projects and the commencement of the functions of the ECOWAS Parliament, amongst others, strengthened its consolidation, its international profile, and its role in the integration and stabilisation of the region. However, the aim of creating a common economic area has still not been achieved.

The 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) decided to adopt a new centralised administrative system based in Gaborone to enhance its organisational and political effectiveness, and to speed up the economic integration of its member states. Four directorates are to be established, covering: infrastructure; agriculture and natural resources; trade, industry, finance and investment; and humanitarian matters. A Department of Strategic Planning has also been set up. Five additional protocols were signed at the summit meeting in Blantyre (Malawi), including one that places political, defence and security cooperation under the leadership of an annually changing troika. A task force was set up to deal with the economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe. Since 1994 the SADC has carried on an institutionalised dialogue with the European Union, with biennial conferences of foreign ministers and close development cooperation.

The financial crisis in the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) could be ameliorated by improved payment discipline on the part of its members. However, its development activities, especially regional infrastructural projects, are still hampered by the reluctance of donor countries to invest, not least because of the still latent crisis potential of the Horn of Africa and wider East African region as well as the sheer size of its capital needs. Although the IGAD was conceived as a regional development organisation, it has gained recognition through its endeavours to resolve the conflicts in Sudan and Somalia.

The East African Community (EAC) formed by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda was formally inaugurated with the deposition of the instruments of ratification on 7 July 2000. Its activities commenced officially on 15 January 2001 at the first summit meeting in Arusha, the seat of its secretariat. Its principal institutions were established during the following months: the Summit of heads of state, the Council of Ministers, the Coordinating Committee and the Secretariat. The opening of the East African Parliament and the East African Court in Arusha on 30 November completed the basic foundation process and provided the EAC with identifiable political contours.

Regional Crisis Situations

In the Horn of Africa, there was no sign of a resolution of the long-running state crisis in Somalia. The border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea was ended in a military sense with an agreement signed in Algiers on 12 December 2000. The UN Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) supervised the maintenance of the cease-fire in 2001, and the other important problems were being dealt with by independent bodies. The IGAD peace process in Sudan stagnated, since neither the Sudanese government nor the rebel movement was prepared to make substantial compromises. Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, the chairman of the Standing Committee on the Sudan Peace Talks, held a peace conference in Nairobi on 2 June, but neither this nor a joint initiative by Egypt and Libya achieved a breakthrough to a solution.

The situation in Southern Africa was dominated by the political and economic effects of the land reforms in Zimbabwe, which cast a dark shadow over the development of the entire region and threatened the stability of the neighbouring countries. Mediation attempts by the EU and the Commonwealth countries brought no success, and an SADC task force failed to induce the Zimbabwean government under President Robert Mugabe to adopt a more moderate political course. The conflict between the government of Angola and the UNITA rebels under Jonas Savimbi brought initial successes for the government forces, but they were unable to prevent further brutal UNITA attacks throughout the country. Despite contacts between the parties, and mediation by religious leaders, no end to the conflict was in sight.

In the Great Lakes Region of East Africa two "low-intensity" civil wars with foreign involvement were still being fought in 2001 despite political rehabilitation processes. The most important event in Burundi was the inauguration of the transitional government on 1 November. It includes representation by all the signatories to the Arusha agreement that was concluded in 2000 with financial assistance and personnel from Austria. This compromise division of power between the two opposing ethnic groups did not, however, suffice to bring about a cease-fire between the army and the Hutu rebel groups, despite South African mediation. Local elections were held in Rwanda in March, and the legal follow-up to the 1994 genocide continued. British mediation kept relations with Uganda alive despite tension, but sporadic guerrilla activities by the Hutu rebels operating from the Democratic Republic of Congo led temporarily to a deterioration in the security situation.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, after the assassination of Laurent Desir é Kabila on 16 January, his son Joseph Kabila took over the office of President. The country is still divided into the government-controlled west and south, and the rich north-west and east controlled by the rebels with the assistance of the Ugandan and Rwandan armies, who are opposed by local militias. There was a partial withdrawal of the Ugandan troops, but the Zimbabwean and especially the Rwandan forces showed no inclination to depart. The UN extended the mandate for the enlarged MONUC mission until June 2002, but in the east of the country there was no sign of an end to the conflict and humanitarian disaster. The conflict attained a momentum of its own through external hegemonial and other regional interests as well as competition for the rich resources of the eastern Congo.

In East Africa, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda was re-elected on 12 March to his last term as President after 15 years in office. The opposition declared the election to have been manipulated and unfair. The parliamentary elec tion on 26 June, held under a much-criticised system that does not permit political parties to campaign as such, resulted in 230 of the 282 seats going to supporters of the President. The political scene in Kenya was dominated by the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2002. President Daniel arap Moi declared his decision not to run for a further term of office. The Constitutional Reform Commission, which was finally established in January 2002, is to present its proposals if possible before the presidential election at the end of 2002. The decisive event in Tanzania was the reform of relations between the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar and the mainland. An agreement to restore peace and stability between the ruling CCM party and the Zanzibar CUF opposition party was signed on 10 October. It foresees amongst other steps a reform of the Zanzibar electoral commission and judicial system.

In West Africa, the efforts to resolve conflicts between the three states of the Mano River Union were a good example of cooperation between the UN, EU and ECOWAS. Intensive diplomatic mediation resulted in a stabilisation of the situation in Guinea, where there had been repeated guerrilla attacks in areas bordering on Liberia and Sierra Leone, with more than 1,000 Guinean deaths. There was also tension between Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire because of the presence of large numbers of opposition groups in the respective other country. Liberia and Togo made no substantial progress towards peace and democratisation in 2001, although the governing and opposition parties in Togo, with EU mediation, agreed to hold democratic elections in March 2002.

The political situation in Nigeria, in the second year after the restoration of democracy, remained overshadowed by ethnic and religious conflicts that cost more than 2,000 lives. One of the causes was the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in 12 of the 36 federal states. The political dialogue between the EU and Nigeria was intensified on the basis of an EU Common Position.