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INSIDE AFRICA

Activists Gather to Challenge the World Economic Forum at Davos; The Rwanda Project

Aired January 27, 2007 - 12:30:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FEMI OKE, HOST: Hello, I'm Femi Oke. This is INSIDE AFRICA, your weekly look at life and news on the continent, coming to you from Johannesburg, South Africa.
On the program this week, we take a look at a very special orphanage and their photography project, which is called "Through the Eyes of Children: The Rwanda Project."

But first, we turn our attention to the news of the week. With the World Economic Forum under way in Davos, Switzerland, we asked what this annual meeting really has to offer Africa. In Kenya this week, tens of thousands of activists gathered to challenge the meeting in Davos. Christian Purefoy reports from the World's Social Forum in Nairobi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! Out of Somalia!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! Out of Somalia!

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Standing side by side, people from around the world descended this week on the site on what has been called one of Africa's biggest slums to advocate against conflict, social injustice and poverty.

Organizers say some 80,000 activists and organizations were expected to gather in Nairobi, Kenya, for the World Social Forum, held as a challenge to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

NURIEL SHLOMO, ANTI-DAVOS PROTESTER: Davos is between the rich people. This is a gathering of the people, in Africa and from Europe, from all over the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The World Social Forum from my own point of view is going to demonstrate that people have power. That you might be having money as rich guys, but when push comes to shove, people have the last word.

PUREFOY: That's not to say there are no big names here. This year, star focus was on Nobel laureates Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai and South African anti-Apartheid icon Desmond Tutu.

DESMOND TUTU, RETIRED ARCHBISHOP: Maybe there are no tangible achievements, but surely the most important is being able to place certain items on the agenda. And saying to the world they're not going to get away and pretend - pretend that there is no poverty, pretend that the economic order is a just one, pretend that the - the debts that so many countries are carrying are - are equitable debts.

PUREFOY: The anti-capitalist forum addresses a vast array of issues, from what they see as unfair trade rules to the environment, to gender issues and education.

Tibian Korani (ph) discusses how she plans to call a village meeting when she gets home, to discuss the things she's learned about education and women's rights.

Others come to protest against the forum itself, primarily because prices here exclude poorer Kenyans from attending.

As if to emphasize the point of the forum, a few kilometers away, Nairobi's Karagochi (ph) area is a stark reminder of those left behind by capitalism. Only a few foreign participants dare venture out to an evening event.

JEAN-MARIE, AMERICAN: At the stadium there where the social forum takes place, you meet a lot of people. They're happy, they talk about a lot of things. I wish they would all come here once, for five minutes. Then I guess the next day would be very quiet, and the experience of seeing how all those people really live would be really something to, you know, to do - how do you call that - to intake and understand.

PUREFOY: But for now, the next generation continues to shoulder the burden of poverty.

Christian Purefoy, CNN, Nairobi, Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Thanks, Christian. Now, just before we leave Nairobi, there was an incident this week involving dozens of street children, who have currently invaded a five-star hotel food tent, which was near the summit, and they had themselves quite a feast. And were joined by participants in the forum complaining about the high prices of the food there. Now, that's people power.

So we go from the World Social Forum to the World Economic Forum. Is it just a business opportunity for the wealthy or is there more to it? Becky Anderson reports from Davos.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It seems the perfect opportunity to shed light on some of Africa's trouble spots. In fact, few other events generate a lineup like this: British Prime Minister Tony Blair cozying up to rock start Bono; Hollywood's golden couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, listening in.

It was in 1970 that founder Klaus Schwab had the idea to pull together the world's movers and shakers for an annual schmooze fest. But what does this sleepy Swiss mountain resort really have to offer Africa?

KLAUS SCHWAB, FOUNDER, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Here is a place where once a year, in a multi-state kind of platform, you come together and you reflect on the state of the world. And hopefully, you're able to improve the state of the world.

ANDERSON: Three African heads of states were on the guest lists this year. But (inaudible) Davos, news is more often made about Africa than by Africans. It was here in 2002 that Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced a $50 million contribution to the fight against AIDS on the continent. And it was at Davos last year that Irish rock star Bono told the world Africa was not a cause, but an emergency. Bono was joined by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who announced Britain would contribute some $85 million to buy malaria nets in Africa. High-level meetings like these have set the bar for just what the delegates at Davos can hope to achieve.

MARIA RAMOS, CEO, TRANSNET: An opportunity for us to present a side of our continent that often does not get - does not get a showing. The opportunities on our continent are immense. The challenges are also big, of course.

ANDERSON: Since the turn of the millennium, the focus has shifted towards globalization, how business can help improve the state of the world. There may be a lot of money pledged to good causes, but this is a meeting that is synonymous with corporate might. It takes 5,000 troops and $5.5 million to protect the Davos elite. A sign to critics, this is very firm, invitation- only jamboree. Anyone with the sniff of anti-globalization to them will be turned away at the door.

Becky Anderson, CNN, Davos.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Whether Davos leads to specific action or not, it's a good opportunity to talk about the issues. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Microsoft's Bill Gates did exactly that when they sat down with CNN to talk about Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL GATES, CHAIRMAN, MICROSOFT CORPORATION: Well, this trade round is focused on allowing the developing countries to fully participate in world trade, and to take particularly some of the price distortions of the huge agricultural subsidies that both the U.S., Europe, and a few other countries have engaged in, and force those, if they are still there, to be moved into a non-distorting form.

So, thinking about jobs in Africa, the empowerment of these countries that have had such a tough time, this round would be a huge boon for them. And so I think people who care about the developing world, consumers and businesses, should talk to their governments and say, yeah, it's fine to negotiate tough, but time is running out. Let's move world trade forward, because it's a win for everyone.

ANDERSON: Tony Blair, you put or made trade injustice, debt relief and aid top priority at Gleneagles in 2005. Many people will say that the promises and the pledges that were made then have been broken.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think probably what they would say if they were being reasonable is that some of the promises have indeed been kept, but other promises have now got to be kept. So, for example, on debt cancellation, there's been something like $100 billion worth of debt cancellation. There are many countries, my own included, that have increased their aid levels substantially.

But on the other hand, you're right, we need to do far more. And on trade, well, that's the thing that hangs in the balance at the moment.

But Bill Gates is absolutely right about one thing: If the African countries in the developing world are allowed to trade into our markets, so that, for example, you take a country like Ghana, right, who is a big cocoa producer. But very often, when it comes to a finished product, it faces big tariffs. If they were allowed to export into our markets, they'll become a more successful economy, and then, of course, as they become a more successful economy, there are sectors of our industry that will be in there. Financial service sector, for example. Other sectors that are incredibly important.

And I just think that the whole issue with this trade round is that those that believe they will lose are very specific and very vocal. Whereas the beneficiaries are kind of, you know, they don't have the right - they don't have the same lobby group. But if we're looking at this responsibly for the future, we will all gain as a result of this. And, you know, the possibilities for our own industry - never mind that in the developing world that - you know, the possibilities are endless for us.

ANDERSON: We talked about the priorities, trade injustice, debt relief and aid. Development aid, Bill Gates, had actually gone down since 2005 to Africa. You are here in Davos announcing the results of one of your initiatives on immunization. Do you not feel depressed about where we are when it comes to Africa?

GATES: No, actually, aid generosity to Africa's going up quite a bit. If you take the debt relief, you take the real dollars going in there. We've announced that the vaccine fund called GAVI has saved several million lives. And now, with the generosity of the United Kingdom, France, Norway and others, that's going to be scaled up quite substantially and save millions more. So the breakthroughs we can have in new vaccines, and not just keep them in a rich world, but let them be used for all the countries of the world, that can save millions, and the benefits of that are quite clear in terms of humanitarian need.

ANDERSON: It doesn't matter, Tony Blair, does it, just how vocal or indeed how committed and supportive of the African cause are -- at the end of the day, it's all about political will, isn't it? Do you find it frustrating?

BLAIR: The work that Bill has done and Melinda with their foundation has been absolutely immense and fantastically important, and also sends a real signal, I think, to the rest of the world.

But it is a matter of political will, but it's also -- it's also a matter of getting the whole of society behind a movement as big as this. The reason we -- we managed to succeed in getting these big commitments at Gleneagles, amid the G-8 summit, was partly because we, you know, there was a huge civic society movement behind it, and I'd also think it's just a question of taking a long-term view of our own strategic interest.

It's - what happens in Sudan at the moment is appalling and terrible, and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people have died needlessly. What's happening in Somalia today is very, very difficult indeed, and in other parts of Africa.

If we don't address these problems, I think all the lessons of modern history is they end up eventually on our own doorstep, or affecting own lives in some way. So, you know, as I was saying in the Africa session earlier today, there is a strategic interest as well as a moral cause at stake here.

ANDERSON: How determined are you that you will make Africa and indeed climate change part of your legacy, the main thing that people remember you, when the alternative is Iraq, of course?

BLAIR: You know, I'm not with this legacy business. It's not my job to decide these things, and frankly what I say about it -- you guys will have your comments on it. All I know is what I believe in, and I believe that these issues that we put upfront at Gleneagles -- climate change, the biggest long-term threat to our environment and planet, and Africa, the biggest moral cause, I think, in the world today - are things that I believe in passionately. And I will carry on working to promote them, before I leave office and after I leave office.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Time for break right now. But when we come back -- after being expelled by Idi Amin decades ago, Asians are now back in Uganda and making their mark on the business world. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OKE: Hello again. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA from Johannesburg, South Africa. Some of (inaudible) recently accelerated trade and investments with Asia holds a lot of promise for Africa's economic growth. One of the biggest investors is China.

Political connections between China and some African nations have been strong since Cold War days, but it's the trade ties that are exciting Beijing and dozens of African capitals. China sees Africa as a major source of its future oil needs, and is aggressively courting all rich African nations. In fact, official Chinese figures report that trade between China and African nations jumped a record 39 percent in the first 10 months of last year.

Asians influence on the continent is not new. In Uganda, for instance, Asians have played a very important role, which came to an end during the rule of Idi Amin. But Asian entrepreneurs are now back in Uganda, and once more helping to push the economy forward. Nick Valencia reports from Kampala.

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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Winston Churchill called Uganda the pearl of Africa. And the Asians who arrived there in the days of the British Empire quickly became its leading entrepreneurs. They became a thriving community of 80,000 professionals, merchants and farmers.

ASIIMWE GODFREY, EAST AFRICA HISTORY: And they were very instrumental in the establishment of the new order, and their history was inextricably linked with the history of Uganda.

VALENCIA: But that all ended in 1972, one year after dictator Idi Amin seized power. Amin said that God had spoken to him in a dream and had told him to expel the Asians. Amin's dream quickly became Ugandan Asians' worst nightmare.

DOCTOR SAYED ABIDI, EXPELLED ASIAN: I still remember once we went to (inaudible) and we found some dead bodies there. So that kind of things were creating the kind of terror in the minds of the people. So it was a very confused environment, as I said. You see, it was all uncertainties. You were not sure what was going to happen to you.

VALENCIA: The expulsion came as a surprise because many Ugandan Asians considered themselves friends of Amin. His decision to expel them was intended to shift economic power away from foreigners and into the hands of Africans. But Uganda's economy crumbled.

Among the most prominent Ugandan Asians was the Mahdvani family. In 1972, the Mahdvanis contributed to almost 10 percent of Uganda's GDP.

It took 14 years of upheaval in Uganda and the eventual arrival of President Yoweri Museveni before Uganda's Asians were asked to return home. Most decided not to, but the Mahdvanis came back.

KAMLESH MAHDVANI, CEO, MAHDVANI GROUP: So for us, I would say, it was not entirely sort of pecuniary decision. There was a lot of emotional attachment involved, a lot of feeling that somehow, we have to do something for this country, and somehow sort of blind faith that it should make some type of business sense, and ultimately, the country will prosper and our group will prosper.

VALENCIA: The Mahdvanis have since become Uganda's largest sugar producers, employing more than 6,000 workers, and once more, they're Uganda's top taxpayers.

The majority of the roughly 15,000 Asians now living in Uganda are newcomers, who were not here during Idi Amin's time, but even they feel at home here.

RAMA KRISHNAN, ASIAN BUSINESSMAN: Ugandans by nature are almost identical to the Indians in the way of thinking, and they are very gentlemanly and law-abiding, and they are royal in nature. And they're very good-natured people, and probably that is a primary reason for them to adopt this country. And even now, if you've seen the whole of Africa, the best people are the people who are from Uganda.

VALENCIA: So, Asian-run businesses again make up many of the most successful in Uganda, and the man who destroyed them because of a dream is now no more than a painful memory.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Kampala, Uganda.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: There is more to come on INSIDE AFRICA. Just ahead, through the eyes of orphans. A special photography project from Rwanda. See you soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OKE: Good to see you again. You're watching INSIDE AFRICA. At the World Social Forum in Kenya this year, there is a special exhibition of photographs. The pictures are taken by the Imbabazi children in their orphanage in Rwanda. The orphanage was set up by an American called Rosamond Carr after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Carr died last September, but just a few months before her death, she spoke to CNN. This is Rosamond Carr's story and the photographs from the Rwanda project.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSAMOND CARR: It was just totally impossible to foresee a genocide. I will never understand it. But it happened, and I think that the future of Rwanda is in the hands of the children.

It was when I was looking at CNN, I saw pictures of babies lying on straw mats. At that camp, there were 10,000 orphans from people who had died of cholera. And at that moment, I thought that I knew where the camp was. It was only exactly 10 kilometers from my house. And I started telling friends I was going to start an orphanage. My family thought I was totally crazy. And I said, well, let's -- let's ask the children if they'd like to learn photography. And I asked, any of you would you like to know (inaudible)? And about 100 hands went up. And everybody wanted to.

And we were absolutely amazed at the results, because the photos were very natural. Kids kept taking more and more pictures, and finally gave (inaudible).

We exhibited for a whole month at the United Nations, and very, very (inaudible). And also, they were selling on the Internet.

What is my hope for some of these children that I'm taking care of? They came to me when they were very little. The majority of them don't remember what happened to their parents. They've grown up now together, and they are truly like a family. They love each other.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OKE: Rosamond Carr died last September, at the age of 94. Her friendship with mountain gorilla researcher (inaudible) is documented in the movie "Gorillas in the Mist." And a screenplay about Carr's life is in the works.

If you'd like to find out more information about her orphans photo project, take a look at www.rwandaproject.org. That's www.rwandaproject.org. Sales from the children's photographs will go to their secondary school fees.

Since Carr died last year, no more orphans are being accepted, but the children who were there will stay there until they grow up.

And that's our look INSIDE AFRICA for this week. Thanks for joining us. We hope that you will let our program be your window to the continent every week. I'm Femi Oke. Until the next time, take care.

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