Videotaped message for the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, to the ICC regional conference in Abuja
Abuja, 20 November 2000
My dear friends,
I am delighted to send you my greetings. In recent years, the International Chamber of Commerce has become a highly valued partner of the United Nations. Together, we promote free and fair trade as one of the best ways for countries to overcome poverty. We promote investment in the world's least developed countries. We harness the vast potential of information technology. We try, through the Global Compact, to give globalization more of a human face.
I am especially glad that that the ICC is focusing on Africa. No other part of the world faces such daunting challenges, from deadly conflict to pandemic disease. And yet, in many more parts of Africa than is often realised, we now see dramatic changes for the better - better government, better laws, and more chances for ordinary people to have a say in decisions that affect their lives.
This is a time when, helped by the right partners, many Africans can make a leap towards a better life. One of the first aims of such a partnership must be to build sustainable markets so that so that Africans can improve their lives by producing, buying and selling, as many Asians have done before them.
Business has a key role to play. It is businessmen, risking their own capital by investing in new ideas, who create the wealth in the world today and provide jobs. Governments should encourage them and listen to their advice.
If Africa is to prosper and grow, it needs a business-friendly climate at home, open markets abroad and assistance from more fortunate countries on other continents. Working together, we can help bring all these things about.
By involving itself in Africa, the ICC is giving a vote of confidence in the continent's prospects. We Africans should respond in kind. Let us start by making this conference a great succes
s.