Botswana's President Festus Mogae on Thursday criticized the Western media for not campaigning against arms trafficking in Africa, which was stifling economic development, according to dpa. During Zambia's premier agricultural and commercial show in Lusaka, Mogae described the weapons trade in Africa as responsible for the inertia of economic development. He regretted that the media scrutinized the smuggling of minerals, notably diamonds, as a major contributor to Africa's bloody conflicts, while little was reported on the proliferation of the continent's weapons trade. Praising Zambia's "impressive macroeconomic and agricultural policies," Mogae said that adequate roads as well as energy and communications infrastructure, were crucial in spurring and crystalizing economic development. However, education and professional skills were the most important factors contributing to development, not only in Zambia but also in neighbouring Botswana, he added. The private sector should be encouraged as the engine for economic development, Mogae said, while Zambia also had the capacity to produce food to feed the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. "Agriculture has the potential ... to create wealth for Zambians and Batswanas," he said. Mogae also addressed the issue of economic empowerment as a policy helping citizens to realize their potential to create wealth for themselves. However, he acknowledged that corruption remained the main obstacle to economic development in Africa. "This must be ruthlessly fought and redressed for the people to see the fruits of economic empowerment," he said. Earlier, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa projected a 6-per-cent growth of the Gross Domestic Product by the end of this year. Lusaka's commercial show is the country's largest to showcase its economic potential with about a dozen foreign countries participating. Mogae and Mwanawasa also held talks on bilateral issues, including conservation, elephant management, and livestock disease control. The two leaders regretted that the trade between SADC countries was not as brisk as envisaged in 2001, when the protocol was signed, with supply constraints and a lack of competition being major problems. Mwanawasa and Mogae also discussed the looming energy deficits due to a lack of new generation power plants in the region and hoped the Lusaka SADC summit would address the issue next week.
