President Mwanawasa today left Cannes for London after attending the 24th France-Africa summit which closed yesterday.
Mr. Mwanawasa left aboard a British Airways plane from Nice International Airport at 14:55 hours Zambian time.
He was accompanied by First Lady Maureen, Foreign Affairs minister Mundia Sikatana, his Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations John Musukuma and PrincipalPrivate Secretary Alfred Chipoya.
Mr. Mwanawasa was seen off at the airport by Community Development and Social Services minister Catherine Namugala, Zambia’s ambassador to France Ian Sikazwe andother senior Zambian and French government officials.
The President told ZANIS at Hilton hotel in Cannes shortly before departure that he would make a stop-over in London for a scheduled medical check up.
Mr. Mwanawasa said he has had hectic schedule before and after the tripartite elections last year and his doctors felt it was time for him to undergo another thorough medical review in London.
The President assured the nation that he was enjoying good health and ably discharging his duties in the high office of the presidency.
Mr. Mwanawasa returns home on February 24.
ZANIS
Meanwhile, President Mwanawasa has called on Zambians to make sacrifices for the development of the country.
Briefing the Zambian media in Cannes on the just ended France-Africa summit, Mr.Mwanawasa said Zambians should not be carried away by the international goodwill being shown by its cooperating partners such France.
He said Zambians should work hard and not depend on outsiders to develop the country.
Mr. Mwanawasa said the summit sent a message to the world that what Africa needed was foreign investment that added value and created jobs for its people.
The President said much as he appreciated aid directed at governance and other social mobilization programmes through non-governmental organisations, only government and its institutions had the capacity to bring about more meaningful and
equitable development for its people.
“The trend by some Western governments to channel development aid through civil society organizations fail to produce the desired results as they are not accountable to government.” said Mr. Mwanawasa.
On raw materials which was one of the thematic topics of the summit, Mr. Mwanawasa called on western countries to emulate the approach of China by investing in Africa’s capacity to process its raw materials into finished products.
Mr. Mwanawasa said by exporting cheap raw materials to the industrialised countries,Africa was exporting jobs and wealth for its people thereby perpetuating poverty and underdevelopment on the continent.
The current trend where industrialized countries import cheap raw materials from Africa and later export expensive finished products to Africa will not do because the continent needed tangible development projects which have a bearing on the living standards of the people.
The president underscored the fact that Africa’s resources, its people and leadership were indispensable in the overall well being and advancement human kind.
The summit was held in the French Cannes from 15-16 February and was attended by 40 African Heads of State and Government.
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