During U.S. President Obama’s visit to Ghana, the 44^th President spoke in front of Ghana’s Parliament on June 11. In his speech, Obama praised Africa’s achievements, offered warnings and charity as well.

Ghana is one of Africa’s leading economic countries, which has demonstrated impressive rates of growth in its economy alongside countries like Botswana and Mozambique. However, Obama also noted the terrible conditions in countries like Zimbabwe, Sudan, Congo and Liberia where financial collapse is a very real threat and violence is a daily occurrence.

The President committed $63 billion to a comprehensive global strategy excluding the Global Poverty Act, which is another part of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The bill would commit $854 billion, over the course of eleven years.

In relation to the bill, then Senator Obama stated, “We can – and must – make it a priority of our foreign policy to commit to eliminating extreme poverty and ensuring every child has food, shelter, and clean drinking water. As we strive to rebuild America’s standing in the world, this legislation will not only commit to reducing global poverty, but will also demonstrate our promise and support to those in the developing world."

Read Full Text of Obama's Speech Here.

Source: Digital Journal

African representatives at the recently ended World Trade Organization Aid for Trade conference in Geneva expressed their satisfaction with the outcome.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWA attended the conference and said that trade can be a powerful tool for economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa.

The Aid for Trade initiative was launched by WTO in 2005 to promote the participation of developing nations in global trade on a win-win basis. Unfortunately, Chambas notes that Africa’s participation in global trade still remains incredibly low.

The Aid for Trade conference did, however, propose specific initiatives designed to address infrastructural constraints, energy, roads, etc. that could be improved to give African nations a more competitive edge in participating in world trade.

Source: VOA News