Sceptic Sant says EU too distracted to lead ‘Marshall plan for Africa’

Labour MEP Alfred Sant has called on Europe to take a lead in a ‘Marshall plan’ for Africa, in a debate in Strasbourg on the the outcome of the Valletta Summit and G20 Summit.

“To be honest, the Valletta summit was really motivated on the European side by the need to control the irregular flow of economic migration to Europe. It has however stimulated what should be an effective dialogue regarding the economic and social complementarities that should exist between Africa and Europe,” Sant said.

“Europe may be too distracted by other crises to take the lead in what is really needed: a Marshall plan for Africa, where public agencies take full charge and do not simply delegate initiative to the private sector, or wait for the latter to take them.”

The former Prime Minister said that “neo-liberal globalisation makes this very difficult to achieve”.

“Actually, the European Union lacks the tools needed to help generate sufficient employment opportunities in Africa, to make economic emigration unattractive. Worse, many private projects in Africa spurred by globalisation have not served to increase job opportunities in the economy as a whole. Corruption, waste of resources and greater social inequalities have spread which spurs desperate people to go far from home to find work.”

Sant said that African development should not be dominated by global, free market forces, but planned by agreement and effectively implemented. Many vested ideas and interests will have to change. “I hope that the Valletta summit was one first step in this very long process,” Sant.