President Kufuor has described the situation in Zimbabwe as unfortunate. In an interview with journalists at Sharm-El Sheik Egypt President Kufuor said what the world saw as a prelude to the election in terms of violence and intimidation cannot be condusive to anybody to say there was free election. President Kufuor admitted that he does not know much as to what is going on in Zimbabwe, therefore cannot comment any further but was of the view that its about time Africa shifted away from such tendencies into modernity and allow decency to prevail.
In another development President Kufuor has held bilateral discussions with the Serbia President Boris Sadic. President Sadic was hopeful the government of Ghana will do all it can to ensure peaceful electioneering. President Kufuor was optimistic that the electorate will return the NPP to power in view of the good work his government has done. President Sadic wished Ghana a free and fair election. He applauded bilateral relationship between the two countries over the decade saying it is extremely good. He further commended President Kufuor also for his leadership qualities and extended an invitation to him to visit Belgrade before leaving office. Still on the sidelines of the AU General Assembly President Kufuor held discussions with the Managing Director of the World Bank, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Ileala who says the factors underlying the world food crisis are more structural. She said there does not seem to be an end sight soon.
Dr. Okonjo-Ileala attributed the crisis partly to the increase in demand for food from certain countries that have become richer like India and China. There are also issues on the supply side which are the high price of oil as well as fertilizer. So to her, the best way forward is to look for a solution which will deal with these matters in the long term. According to Dr. Okonjo-Ileala, the basic thing about food is that Africa can feed itself moreso when the continent is only using 41 per cent of her arable land as of now. She said the factor affecting Africa must be identified and solved, bearing in mind that the continent can produce enough to feed her people. Dr. Okonjo-Ileala said the World Bank is focused on assisting in the short term with the right seedling and fertilizer for the planting season which has begun.
In the longer term the bank is considering investing in agriculture and rural infrastructure like the building of roads and rail to enable farmers to cart their produce to the market centres. The bank will also increase the social safety net from four to six billion dollars. She indicated that there is already available a fast response stability of one point two billion dollars out of which 200 million is a grant to Africa.
