Opening statement by Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic od Senegal

Abstract

Opening statement by H.E. Abdoulaye Wade, President of the republic of Senegal at the Expert Group meeting on solving Africa’s external debt problem to finance development. H. E. Wade, on his remarks highlighted that, The debt crisis has its roots in the economic policies implemented in the early 1970s, the decade during which the good performance of the prices of basic Commodities promoted the implementation of social and economic development policies. The debt rescheduling and partial debt cancellation measures applied since the early 1980s were unable to assist the sub-Saharan African countries to overcome their debt crisis. A specific strategy for ensuring a way out of the African countries debt crisis must be devised in view of their specificity and the constraints facing them, such as the conflict situation, the fact of being land locked and formerly colonized countries etc.