At this stage in our history, the country is faced with three sets of challenges as a nation: we must rectify the accumulated errors of past policies; we must repair the damage and heal the scars left by the conflict; and we must chart an appropriate path for the development of our small country in the twenty-first century.

The positive signs that could predict a new era for Africa should not cause us to lose sight of the scope and the complexity of the challenges we face, which result from historical circumstances, environmental disasters and an accumulation of human errors.