Several African leaders were on the Island of Margarita in northern Venezuela over the weekend for the second Africa-South America summit. Among them: Muammar Gaddafi (Libya), Jacob Zuma (South Africa) Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Abdelaziz Bouteflika (Algeria). The most influential presidents of the continent, according to the Ministry of Communication and Information of Venezuela, met to find a "strategic link" between the two regions as well as solutions to the energy crisis, food security and the financial crisis. "Only united will we be free," announced Hugo Chavez as he opened the summit. Among his proposals was the enhancement of economic coordination between the Union of South American nations and African states, which according to Brazilian leader, Lula de Silva has reaped enormous benefits. The cooperation is expected to boost the economies of the two continents.
"We agree that this summit should not be just another summit. This will be a successful summit, not just speeches and a final declaration that goes unnoticed. We are working to integrate South America and Africa,” Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said early September, during a visit to Tripoli. This statement speaks volumes about the consideration the leader has given to South-South relations.
At the summit, the leaders agreed to launch a new development bank for South America, the Banco del Sur, with an initial start up investment of $20bn. Jean-Jacques Seymour, journalist and writer, elaborating on the reasons for the summit indicated that the creation of a bank for Latin America and Africa will be "an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for Southern countries,” while the implementation of a common currency to replace the FCFA will represent a “win-win” commercial exchange. A change in financial and commercial structures is necessary if this partnership has to work. "All the energy infrastructure, both in South America and in Africa, was designed and developed to meet the energy requirements of the industrial powers that our countries were satellites of," said Venezuelan minister of energy and petroleum, Rafael Ramirez. FULL STORY
