Africa calls for greater global partnership

African governments on Monday called for greater partnerships among the international community.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta said that as Africa begins to embrace globalization, the rest of the world seems to retreat and become more internal in their own thinking.

"We need to move away from excuses and blame games and partner with each other so that everyone benefits from globalization," Kenyatta said during the World Leaders Summit.

The summit is part of the 14 session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Kenyatta said that Africa's low development levels were often attributed to lack of transparent and accountable governance systems.

He said multilateral agencies including the United Nation organizations have to work with national governments and civil societies to get solutions to challenges facing the continent.

The president said this as he called for a reformed UN to make it more effective.

He said the UN would be more successful in solving conflicts if it worked through national governments and leaders to resolve disputes arising in respective regions of the globe.

"The UN spends billions of dollars on peace keeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and South Sudan, but after spending all these billions what impact do they have?" the president asked.

He also urged the international community not to turn its back to globalization, noting that globalization has also enabled the volume of global trade to expand tremendously in the past several decades.

"Unfortunately, Africa's share of the global trade has remained low because its trade is dominated by primary commodities," he said.

Uganda's Vice President Edward Ssekandi said that greater global partnerships is crucial if the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be achieved.

"The SDGs are complimentary to each other and therefore need international cooperation by governments in order for them to fully succeed," Ssekandi said.

"If we fail to deliver the goals we will fail our people," he said. The Ugandan VP urged African states to use the momentum of the Millennium Development Goals to achieve the SDGs.

Namibian President Hage Geingob said that the trend for greater globalization cannot be reversed. "What is required is to ensure that all nations benefit from increased trade and investments," Geingob said.

He noted that for Africa to achieve economic transformation, there is need for greater transparency and accountability. "This way African leaders will win the trust of its citizens," he said. Endit