Prometheus 6   

Africa Subsidizing the West, Says Museveni Following Meeting With Bush
June 11, 2003
By Charles Cobb Jr.
Washington, DC

African commodities and raw materials are processed in wealthy nations and then resold by companies and corporations in those nations at prices many times greater than what is paid to the producers, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Tuesday night at a well-attended reception just hours after his meeting at the White House with President George W. Bush.

"The value of the coffee market is 70 billion dollars," he said. "We coffee producing countries get 5 billion. Who takes the remaining 65 billion? -- somebody else!" said Museveni, whose laughter accompanying the comment only partially hid the seriousness of his point. "Africans are being donors but they do it in ignorance."

Trade, not aid is what's crucial for nations like Uganda, Museveni said. "I don't want aid; I want trade. Aid cannot transform society. If I get aid it must be aid that enables me to trade." He said the marketplace "and its discipline" can "set us free." But trade barriers stand in the way, he said, pointing in particular to agricultural subsidies in Europe and the United States, which he said undercut Africa's agricultural economy.