Before I deliver the statement I have prepared I should like to support one aspect of the long speech made by the Chairman of the African Union, brother Muammar Al-Qadhafi, which touched on so many issues, and that is reform of the United Nations system and fairer representation for the African Union in the Security Council. That is an African position and I support it. It is said in the Holy Bible, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter I, verses 2 and 3, that it was an 11-day journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea on the border of Canaan, yet it took the Israelites, coming out of slavery in Egypt, some 40 years to complete it. It was a journey of only 11 days, but it took them 40 years. In Deuteronomy, chapter VIII, verse 2, it also says: “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not”. Similarly, Africa, especially black Africa, has been wandering in the desert of underdevelopment for much of the 40 years following independence. As it says in the Book of Common Prayer, one cannot help but wonder whether it was because we had “left undone those things which we ought to have done”, and we had “done those things which we ought not to have done”, and there was “no truth in us”. On the other hand, the Asian countries — South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, India, et cetera — did not similarly wander in the desert of underdevelopment. That is not to mention the People’s Republic of China. Fortunately, in the past 15 to 20 years, Africans have also grasped the development compass. We have started to do what we had left undone for a long time, and the truth is now beginning to be in us. Uganda’s economy has grown at a rate of 6.5 per cent per annum for the past 23 years. During the last financial year, Uganda’s rate of growth was 7 per cent, in spite of the global recession, which affected us all. In the current financial year of 2009-2010, our rate of growth will be in excess of 7 per cent. In the financial year 2007- 2008, our rate of growth was 9.8 per cent, before adjusting for inflation. We achieved these reasonable rates of growth despite the fact that we have not yet dealt decisively with three strategic infrastructure elements: electricity, roads and railways. While we have achieved peace, macroeconomic stability, education for all, some aspects of health for all, economic integration in the region, international market access, democratization and scientific research, we have been slow on these three: electricity, roads and railways. This slowness was the result of dependence on foreign funding, which tends to be frivolous and erratic. We depended on foreign funding because our tax collections were initially very low, but they have now grown in tandem with the growth of the economy. Uganda is, therefore, now able to fund road, rail and electricity projects on its own, although of course we welcome foreign investment. We can no longer, however, be held to ransom by foreign funding for those vital foundational elements of infrastructure. It is amazing and, indeed, shameful to see the low levels of electrification in Africa. In the United States, kilowatt- hours per capita are 14,124. In Africa, on the other hand, the figure is only 547 kilowatt-hours per capita. Some African countries have as low as 9 kilowatt- hours per capita. How could we expect growth and transformation in such a situation? The whole of Africa needs to wake up on this issue and cooperate to find a solution. The same goes for our high transport costs due to poor roads and poor or non-existent railways. In China, it costs $12 to transport a ton of cargo between Beijing and Shanghai by rail. In East Africa, on the other hand, transporting the same cargo over a comparable distance would require $65. We are aware of these bottlenecks, and we are dealing with them one by one. There are two other bottlenecks that we often talk about: the export of raw materials, and the failure to transform subsistence and traditional farming into modernized agriculture. The haemorrhage that is the export of raw materials, for which we get only 10 per 29 09-52179 cent of the final processed product, has been recognized by many of us as modern slavery. In Uganda we are transforming traditional subsistence agriculture into modern agriculture. This involves using improved seeds, fertilizers, tractors, irrigation, breeding stock and agricultural practices. However, we know that we cannot do all of this sustainably if we continue to neglect the environment. Therefore, our development and transformation manifesto and action plan in Uganda entails the following: peace; democracy; education for all; health for all; macroeconomic stability and economic liberalization; electricity generation and distribution to banish the very low levels of kilowatt-hours per capita; modernization of roads; rebuilding and modernization of railways; commercialization and modernization of agriculture away from traditional subsistence farming; adding value to our agricultural and mineral products instead of just exporting raw materials, including petroleum and gas; regional integration to widen markets as well as accessing international markets; environmental protection; and scientific research — we are already supporting a quantity of innovative research by Ugandan scientists. Ugandans and other Africans in our region who have been chronically underconsuming in the past are now helping our economy to stay afloat in spite of the global recession, because they now have greater capacity to purchase what we produce. Their consumption is going up, thus supporting our regionally oriented industries. We think that we have at last graduated from wandering in the desert of underdevelopment and are now marching towards socio-economic transformation. We are finally doing that which we ought to have done and the truth, this time, is in us. The phase of what the French scholar René Dumont called “a false start” in Africa, or, in this case, Uganda, is over. We are entering the phase of growth and transformation. Thus, we believe, our economy will soon take off. Thus, Uganda’s response to the global crisis has been fair, because of regional trade. It would have been fairer if we had already dealt with the three infrastructure elements I have talked about: roads, electricity and railways. This would have enabled us to lower the costs of doing business in Uganda and, thus, increase the profitability of enterprises. Africa has great potential for growth that is not tapped. The current global crisis was caused by certain laxities in the management of some of the economies of the world. Those laxities need to be rectified through multilateral action, as some heads of State have already noted. We need to stop money-laundering and strengthen regulation. Multilateral action would also be welcome in unlocking the dormant potential of Africa. In the case of Uganda and many other African countries, we have a double challenge: first, the struggle to transform our economies from a pre-industrial to a modern state; secondly, to cope with the problems caused by others, such as the present global financial crisis and environmental degradation. There are, however, a few questions I keep asking myself. Is the present profligacy of some of the developed countries sustainable if we all join in that lifestyle? Or was it only possible when a tiny minority of humanity was enjoying affluence? Is there a need for a more rational modern lifestyle? The need for dialogue among civilizations is long overdue. That dialogue could help us deal with some of the headaches and dilemmas confronted by humanity.