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AFRICA-CARAIBBEAN-PACIFIC - EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

MEETING POINT: Salim Ahmed Salim

With decolonisation complete, with the ending of apartheid now certain, and communist hegemony in Eastern Europe in tatters, the OAU finds itself at a turning point in its history. What now, will be its raison d’e, its battle cry? What stance will its Member States adopt in the framework of the new international order? Will it become a more economic than political body, or will it be both? On a recent visit to Brussels the OAU’s Secretary-General, Salim Ahmed Salim, explained, with his customary frankness, his point of view.

COUNTRY REPORTS

BARBADOS: In a Caribbean of economic gloom, Barbados, in 1989, achieved its seventh consecutive year of growth with an economy based on tourism, sugar and manufacturing. This is the hallmark of good management which, more than ever before. will be needed in the coming years as tourism, the leading sector, falters and the sugar industry remains depressed.

SWAZILAND: A tiny kingdom, bordering on South Africa and Mozambique, Swaziland’s traditional economic base, heavily agriculture-oriented, is now being complemented by an increasingly strong manufacturing sector. Though Government revenues are rising, the boom is being handled with caution. This is, after all, a time of change in Southern Africa.

DOSSIER: Higher education

Developments in higher education and in the related area of training in the ACP States, show that the situation in this field of economic and social life has deteriorated markedly in recent times. Do the ACP want to - and, if so, how can they - bring about the quantum leap that is so needed in the quality of their educational and training systems? Our Dossier examines some of the aspects of the problem.