Commission for Africa: Yared Mussie

We asked eight Africans for their views on the UK-sponsored Commission for Africa following the group's second meeting since it was launched.

Godwin Emejuobi: Port Harcourt, Nigeria "God is the help of Africa" Kasozi Lubega: Kampala, Uganda "Gain power without conflict" Ousman Njie: Cairo, Egypt "Reaffirming British interests" Samantha Smit: Lusaka, Zambia "Teachers and textbooks"

Iqbal Jhazbhay: Pretoria, South Africa "Development and stability" Yared Mussie: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia "Uncompetitive in business" Trevor Simumba: Freetown, Sierra Leone "We have to help ourselves first" Amboka Wameyo: Arusha, Tanzania "Africa should be trusted"

Yared Mussie

Africa is plagued by a myriad of problems and obstacles in its struggle for development.

MEET THE PANEL Name: Yared Mussie Age: 24 Lives: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Occupation: Starting up HIV/Aids NGO called Hello Born: Florida, USA (Parents were students at University of Florida) Religion: Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Ethnic group: Amhara In 10 words or less: People person who loves movies, camping and reading historical fiction

However the key problem sources can be identified.

And it is exactly the sources of the problems that the Commission for Africa should tackle if it wants to be effective in making a dent in poverty, unemployment, the HIV/Aids epidemic and illiteracy on the continent.

Africa has not been able to keep up with the world in terms of international trade and is uncompetitive in business compared to other regions.

Part of the problem is Africa's inability to obtain enough hard currency, be it from foreign direct investment (FDI) or through export revenue.

FDI has been hard to come by in African states as foreign investors are scared away by political instabilities, often caused by remnant conflicts and issues dating back from the Cold War era and colonialism.

Political stability is the key in paving the way to economic stability.

Africa must be able to compete in the global market and add hard currency value to its raw materials

Which is why the Commission needs to concentrate efforts in supporting African governments to act responsibly and quickly when armed conflicts and human rights abuses occur, otherwise they have the potential to escalate into major war and refugee crises.

African peacekeeping troops must be increased, well funded and trained.

African voices: See where our panel live

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Political security for the government and its citizens is both a basic but yet a paramount necessity for economic growth to take place.

Once political stability is guaranteed, the Commission should create a system or programme in which developed nations' companies and agencies partner with African business communities in efforts to upgrade their business management in terms of human resource and technology.

Such a programme will in the future accommodate the enmeshing of business culture and investment between Africa and the rest of the world, thus in effect making Africa a real actor in world affairs.

Meles Zenawi is enthusiastic about the role the Commission can play Click here to read Africa diary: Ethiopia's challenge by the BBC's world affairs correspondent, Peter Biles

Africa must be able to compete in the global market and add hard currency value to its raw materials by turning them into finished products.

Finally, the last but by no means least of the problems is the issue of debt.

Debt is a real obstacle for already impoverished African states who are struggling just to attain basic needs and sustainable growth.

And so a way must be found to entirely cancel all their foreign debts.

But a further step must be taken to prevent more debt accumulation by issuing grants instead of loans.

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Your comments:

If we have the same objective, that is, the economical well being of Africa, without a hidden agenda, we all will arrive at the same conclusion Seifek, USA

All the comments on this subject are valid. However, there is one thing for sure. No condition in Africa is a permanent condition. In the long run, all conditions are temporary. Be it political, economical, social or cultural, we Africans as brothers and sisters need to fight corruption in the continent and need to have the same objective. If we have the same objective, that is, the economical well being of Africa, without a hidden agenda, we all will arrive at the same conclusion. It is time, with all the due respect for all, to stop bickering at each other and start working towards economics of interdependency.

No one country is mutually exclusively successful without including other nation states. We have to avoid the pit falls and the land mines of corruption as well as dictatorship in the continent. That is, we have to stop the negatives and do more of the positives. I sound more philosophical; however, my dream is more visionary. Visionary is where it starts! As they say, it is what it is. Tell me about economics of Africa, I will listen. Tell me about the starving children of Africa who have died before the age of two, I will listen. However, if you tell me about bickering at each other, I have no time.
Seifek, USA

I agree with you about the problem for Africa to eliminate poverty and HIV, but also malaria. The African government needs to have a positive attitude for the people and then we will eliminate a bad culture and develop a good culture.
Tesfaye, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Africa needs a genuine cancellation of debts and establishment of fair trade agreements Haile, Norfolk, USA

I don't agree with your opinion regarding the so-called African commission created by Mr Tony Blair. African Commission? What for? Africans don't need any messiah like Mr Tony Blair. In the first place, what was the basic need and urgency for the creation of such forum while there exists a bunch of indigenous organizations that can work in the given environment? If Mr Tony Blair is for real, he should have never voted against the poor African farmers at the WTO summit.

Our problems are ourselves; the continent is suffocated by those merciless, inapt, and corrupted leaders. If his motives are genuine and he has got the guts, he has to tell to those blood suckers to abide by the rule of law. Mr Tony Blair has to tell his counterparts in Europe and the USA to freeze the accounts of those corrupted leaders and their families as he has been doing against some alleged terrorist collaborators. Moreover, what Africa needed is not a replica of organizations or commissions. Africa needs a genuine cancellation of debts and establishment of fair trade agreements.
Haile, Norfolk, USA

Seifek has a point, Africa will never be economically viable until its tribal disputes are resolved - too many countries are in the middle of some form of civil war. A United States of Africa is not however the way to resolve these problems. All countries have some form of internal friction but most can over come tribal differences and put the country first. Too many times in Africa politicians represent the needs of their tribe over the country, this leads to internal disputes and helps create totalitarian states. Until people within African countries accept that the country must come first development is going to be hard to achieve.
Rob, Bristol, UK

The only way Africa will enjoy an economy of interdependency is by removing the economic boundaries Seifek, USA

Your comment is absolutely on the money. In order to have economic growth, the foundation is political stability, and then the division of Africa into tribalism and nationalism. The only way Africa will enjoy an economy of interdependency is by removing the economic boundaries. Benefits of economies of scale can only come from large scale of production and large scale market for consumption. It is time that we created a United States of Africa.
Seifek, USA

To Seifek, USA: You have to be joking! Africa is not ready for United States of Africa. We are about a century and a half away from that! We all have to develop economically at the same pace for us to be equals in that way. However, I do believe that if Africa cut out the middle men and traded by themselves, they could do wonders.
Juliet, Harare, Zimbabwe

Stop the blame game and face the reality Agyenim Boateng, USA

My brother, stop the blame game and face the reality. How do you expect Africa to be competitive in business when every loan, grant and gift given to us to support our economy is stolen by our so-called leaders? The sad part is where the stolen money ends up; back to foreign accounts of our politicians in developed nations. Who are the richest people in Africa? Are they not politicians? How did they earn their wealth? The African way... corruption and stealing from the masses. We need to face the ugly facts and uproot them from our societies instead of blaming the white man for the problems we've created ourselves.
Agyenim Boateng, Elk Grove, USA

To Agyenim Boateng, USA: I agree with you. We cannot keep blaming the West every time we think or search for solutions to our problems. But we must also inform them in every way that their evil/cynical intentions are not welcomed these days in Africa. Look at Belgium, who can disagree with me that it is not all the gold and other resources of the Congo (Ex-Zaire) that built that nation. And France with its reliance on exploiting the African continent. Russia and China have done nothing to help the African continent, but they always come there to exploit and at the same time criticise US policies. These nations were critical of the war in Iraq simply because they wanted to gain favour from Islamic countries of the Middle East. Petrol, diamond, gold is all the business. I am not in support of the war in Iraq but I want to be realistic, the West must understand that people from developing nations cannot be fooled every time.
Rexon, Cameroonian in UK/Sweden

To Agyenim Boateng, USA: You are right, corruption is definitely a major problem in Africa. I know we must all ask ourselves where does all development money from the World Bank, IMF and UN go to. Yes I am pretty sure that a good portion of that money is misappropriated to some top leaders to buy luxuries. But also I know for a fact that some of that money that is made available to local governments and agencies dealing with let's say HIV/Aids does not all get used for some reason. There would be money available in the budget but perhaps maybe only half of it used. And in the end what happens is that in the coming year that same donor aid fund will not be there again because they see that it is not being used and they will either give the money to some other country or entirely just not give that amount of funds next time around. Our governments need to inform civil societies of funds that are readily available from donor nations that essentially go to help the public at large.
Yared Mussie, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Past is past, and we must move on to the present and future, and look for better solutions MJ, USA

To Agyenim Boateng, USA: Who is blaming who and what? Nothing in the article said anything about anyone blaming the white man for Africa's many problems. At the same time not all of the problems that Africa has were created by ourselves if you really take a good look at it, but anyway, past is past, and we must move on to the present and future, and look for better solutions. If Africa can push themselves to join institutions like the UN Security Council (as a permanent member), and continue to be more forceful in WTO talks and negotiations and become and remain united on issues then gradually the continent will improve. Countries should trade within the continent more and more also to boost trade so that economies will grow. More focus should be given to education, the environment, healthcare and resources as well.
MJ, Woodbridge, Virgina, USA