Quotes
We have 25 million cases of AIDS in Africa today and 10 million orphans. So the first item on the agenda for me in Africa is always AIDS.
We accept that every one of us has the right to protest a contract, to protest that we own something, that we have the right to property, that we have the right to certain human protections.
Too many of the conflicts which are caused today are caused by the problems that emerge from people who are in poverty.
They just want an opportunity like you and I would have wanted. They want peace; they want a chance to bring up their kids; they want to live in safety.
The things that really impacted me were the numbers, the inevitability of the numbers, the limitations of our planet, the interdependence of our planet in terms of people.
The thing that is crucial here is the human dimension of it and the other aspect that we need to understand is that these areas are real poverty areas.
The second thing is trade - you have to open your markets to trade. If you don't do that, you're cutting off these markets, giving them no chance.
The reason was very simple: You've got faster growth in developing countries; you've got many greater opportunities in terms of people and development.
The notion of the world as a village is becoming a reality.
The issue of poverty is not a statistical issue. It is a human issue, Charlie.
The first thing you talk about in Africa today is AIDS.
The first thing that you need to deal with is the issue of equity and poverty.
Tanzania is a country where Benjamin Mkapa came in on a platform to fight corruption.
So when you talk about a need for rules and a need for change to the environment, it is very necessary today but critically urgent in terms of preparing for the next 25 years.
So when you ask why are those people not as rich as we are, why don't they have the opportunity, the first level is that they don't have the framework and the environment in which they can have equal opportunity.
So the first thing you need to do about conflict is to prevent it, and the best way of preventing it is by dealing with the question of poverty.
So debt relief can be very, very important and that will be part of a needs assessment and the method of financing that we'll be doing in the coming weeks.
Our role is not just the simplistic way one thinks of giving charity or giving aid.
One of the principal things we're doing is to assist countries that wish to have a democratic framework create an environment in which those people that have very little can have an opportunity to advance themselves.
Now, Mkapa is a great believer in a private enterprise system and in engaging the private sector, but he has to create an atmosphere in which that private sector can flourish.