Queen's Speech

Lord St John of Bletso Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord St John of Bletso]

My Lords, I will devote my remarks to current developments and challenges in southern Africa. While the gracious Speech made no mention of Africa, it did mention Her Majesty's Government's commitment to development aid. I wholeheartedly support the Government's agenda for international development, as outlined in One World Conservatism. At a time of economic uncertainty, when budgets are tight, the focus on aid effectiveness and value for money becomes all the more critical. To this end, I welcome the establishment of the independent aid watchdog, which is an excellent move towards results-driven aid and a re-evaluation of where the money goes. I was also pleased to see a commitment to more involvement of the private sector, and to public/private partnerships, in an effort to achieve the millennium development goals. I firmly believe that aid should be linked with trade when considering the needs of Africa.

There have been many extremely encouraging developments in Africa over the past 20 years, from 1990 when there were only four elected democracies to the peak in 2005 when there were 24 elected democracies. That is all very encouraging but, in its quest for greater democratisation and economic growth, the continent is still dogged with the problems of corruption and a lack of transparency and accountability, as well as a lack of infrastructure and power shortages. Sadly, in some countries such as Zimbabwe, political hardliners are clearly more interested in their personal wealth and prosperity than in the interests of their people.

In just over two weeks’ time, South Africa will be hosting the World Cup. In the words of President Jacob Zuma:

“This is the single greatest opportunity we have ever had to showcase our diversity and potential to the world”.

I firmly believe that after years of doubt and criticism, the World Cup will confound the pessimists and be a resounding success. Preparations for the World Cup have not only taken the country’s infrastructure to new levels, with new airports, ports, roads and rail links, but have also provided a focus for social cohesion which could—I say “could”—and, I hope, will result in the social legacy that is the most important thing of all.

Thankfully, South Africa emerged from the credit crunch and global recession in considerably better shape than many of its trading partners in the G8 and avoided the worst effects of the economic contraction. However, while the country boasts many economic achievements, it desperately needs to tackle the deep-seated problems such as skills shortages, high unemployment and poverty. That is why I was very encouraged by the recent budget speech by the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, in which he focused on five priorities—healthcare, education, housing and rural development, tackling crime and, finally, promoting job creation in a sustainable way.

Inadequacies in the power supply in southern Africa will continue to be a serious constraint in the growth of business and inward investment into the region. Just as important as power supply are water management and distribution issues, which are also likely to become major constraints in the region.

Great strides have been achieved in southern Africa in tackling the spread of HIV/AIDS. Of course, South Africa has the worst statistics in the world when it comes to HIV. However, in my opinion not enough has been done to tackle the scourge of malaria in the region. I was, therefore, delighted to note that £500 million will be pledged every year to tackle malaria.

A lot was achieved by the recent state visit of Jacob Zuma here in March. This was all incorporated in the joint declaration on 4 March. One of the subjects—a point raised by the Minister—was the need for South Africa to play a more proactive role to complete the implementation of the global political agreement in Zimbabwe, paving the way for free and, one hopes, fair elections there.

Many would argue that Zimbabwe is in a state of stalemate. Although I have some reservations as to the road map and the timetable for full and fair elections in the country, over the past year the transitional Government have achieved some major breakthroughs. Following the implementation of the de-dollarisation of the currency in January last year, gone are the days of hyperinflation, where a 100-trillion dollar note was worth just £2.50. This has had a knock-on effect with an improvement in agricultural performance, a doubling of tobacco production and a mild economic recovery. Also, all the schools and hospitals have now reopened. Hospitals have far better access to clean water, and food is more readily accessible on supermarket shelves. However, the political hardliners—the likes of Patrick Chinamasa, the Justice Minister; Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Defence; Chiwenga, the Minister of Police; and of course Robert Mugabe—have clearly been stalling the process towards elections.

While talks have started on agreeing the constitution, progress has been extremely slow. Much needed inward investment has been stalled by political uncertainty and the recently introduced Act on indigenisation and the poor state of infrastructure—particularly the lack of power and the skills shortage, with more than a third of all Zimbabweans living out of the country—has certainly not helped the situation.

Following his recent state visit here, President Zuma visited Zimbabwe. It is encouraging that following that visit and the meetings with President Mugabe a human rights commission, a media commission and an electoral commission have been established, the membership of all three having been agreed by all three parties.

With ZANU-PF being in a state of disarray, with several factions being held together by Robert Mugabe, and with the President being 86 years old—many would say 86 years young—there is a real opportunity for a breakthrough. It is well known that Robert Mugabe had a major dislike for the Labour Government and he has made it clear that he would like to work with the Conservative Government. I hope that we can have a full debate on current developments in Zimbabwe in your Lordships’ House. On that note, I pay tribute to the contributions of the late Baroness Park and the late Lord Blaker, both of whom have made major contributions in your Lordships’ House and who are sorely missed. I join in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Howell, on his ministerial appointment. He certainly has deep knowledge of the challenges and opportunities in Zimbabwe.

In conclusion, democracy, trade, technology and regional integration are certainly transforming Africa. It will not achieve the key millennium goals, but lack of money is not the key issue. Focus must be on good governance, transparency and accountability—in the words of the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, “robust audit trails”. I wish our coalition Government good steer in implementing their ambitious programme.