Africans wary G8 will not deliver aid pledges

PRETORIA – Africa has heard rich nations promise to help the continent out of poverty before, but has ended up with little more than crumbs.

After the euphoria of last week’s meeting of the Group of Eight wealthy nations that pledged billions of dollars in new aid and debt relief, a continent sobered by the G8’s poor record of delivery is wondering whether it really won anything. “As optimistic as we would like to be, we should be wary based on their track record, which has often been far short compared to the pledges,” said Sue Mbaya, director of the Pretoria-based Southern Africa Regional Poverty Network.The G8 leaders’ summit agreed to double aid for Africa to US$50 billion (N$335 billion) by 2010 and pledged to end farm export subsidies; a major demand of African nations who complain rich countries force their farmers out of business.But British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who pushed through the aid plan, warned that the money would only flow if Africa’s leaders put their own houses in order; a step some Africans said established movable goalposts.”As Africans we have always agreed to uphold good economic and political governance but perhaps what is lacking from our friends is a barometer for measuring these,” Deputy Zambian Finance Minister Felix Mutati told Reuters in Lusaka.The G8 also did not set a date on trade liberalisation, a step which could help make Africa truly self-sufficient, while much of the new aid will not feed through for five years.”Lack of breakthrough on trade issues is a sign we are likely to see more of that dithering in the future.For developing countries like those in Southern Africa, if we fail to see a significant shift in agricultural subsidies, it means we don’t have much to shout about,” Mbaya told Reuters.UK charity Action Aid International said that while the G8 promised US$50 billion more in aid by 2010, half of it for Africa, only between US$15-20 billion of that was “genuinely new money”.Debt relief plans fell short of the full cancellations sought by Africans, while a funding gap of US$18 billion over three years remains in the campaign against HIV and AIDS even though the G8 said it supported universal care by 2010, Action Aid said.Other analysts said conditions attached to debt relief made it worthless, with some fearing that rich nations will use the governance issue to wriggle out of their aid commitments.”It’s not debt relief at all.It’s simply enslaving Africans more,” said Julius Okara, head of the Kenya Debt Relief Network.He said implementing reforms necessary to qualify for the debt relief, including improved policing of corruption and conservative government spending, would be too costly.”My conclusion is that I do not want this debt relief to be implemented,” Okara said in Kenya.Other Africans were concerned that the momentum to help Africa would be lost when Britain relinquishes its leadership of the G8 and presidency of the European Union.”What happens when Tony Blair finishes his term as president of the G8? …Can the momentum or even the policy be guaranteed to continue?” wondered Franklin Oduro, head of programmes at Accra think-tank the Centre for Democratic Development.Analysts say African leaders, led by South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki and African Union chairman Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, are committed to tackling corruption and improving governance – key priorities of their home-grown economic recovery initiative New Partnership for Africa’s Development.But they say Africa as a whole may never run smoothly enough to satisfy Western donors.”I believe they (African leaders) will set up the institutions and make the laws and the right pronouncements, but I suspect implementation might be weak, and that’s because in many instances the leaders themselves are tainted, and that makes it difficult for them to keep their subordinates in check,” said Ghana’s Oduro.Mbaya said she feared Africa’s new commitment to being open about its own problems could come back to haunt it.”We need to see the issue of governance as the latest trick on the conditionalities front.The fact that African leaders have acknowledged the challenge should not be used as loophole to raise the profile of governance issues.”-Nampa-Reuters”As optimistic as we would like to be, we should be wary based on their track record, which has often been far short compared to the pledges,” said Sue Mbaya, director of the Pretoria-based Southern Africa Regional Poverty Network.The G8 leaders’ summit agreed to double aid for Africa to US$50 billion (N$335 billion) by 2010 and pledged to end farm export subsidies; a major demand of African nations who complain rich countries force their farmers out of business.But British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who pushed through the aid plan, warned that the money would only flow if Africa’s leaders put their own houses in order; a step some Africans said established movable goalposts.”As Africans we have always agreed to uphold good economic and political governance but perhaps what is lacking from our friends is a barometer for measuring these,” Deputy Zambian Finance Minister Felix Mutati told Reuters in Lusaka.The G8 also did not set a date on trade liberalisation, a step which could help make Africa truly self-sufficient, while much of the new aid will not feed through for five years.”Lack of breakthrough on trade issues is a sign we are likely to see more of that dithering in the future.For developing countries like those in Southern Africa, if we fail to see a significant shift in agricultural subsidies, it means we don’t have much to shout about,” Mbaya told Reuters.UK charity Action Aid International said that while the G8 promised US$50 billion more in aid by 2010, half of it for Africa, only between US$15-20 billion of that was “genuinely new money”.Debt relief plans fell short of the full cancellations sought by Africans, while a funding gap of US$18 billion over three years remains in the campaign against HIV and AIDS even though the G8 said it supported universal care by 2010, Action Aid said.Other analysts said conditions attached to debt relief made it worthless, with some fearing that rich nations will use the governance issue to wriggle out of their aid commitments.”It’s not debt relief at all.It’s simply enslaving Africans more,” said Julius Okara, head of the Kenya Debt Relief Network.He said implementing reforms necessary to qualify for the debt relief, including improved policing of corruption and conservative government spending, would be too costly.”My conclusion is that I do not want this debt relief to be implemented,” Okara said in Kenya.Other Africans were concerned that the momentum to help Africa would be lost when Britain relinquishes its leadership of the G8 and presidency of the European Union.”What happens when Tony Blair finishes his term as president of the G8? …Can the momentum or even the policy be guaranteed to continue?” wondered Franklin Oduro, head of programmes at Accra think-tank the Centre for Democratic Development.Analysts say African leaders, led by South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki and African Union chairman Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, are committed to tackling corruption and improving governance – key priorities of their home-grown economic recovery initiative New Partnership for Africa’s Development.But they say Africa as a whole may never run smoothly enough to satisfy Western donors.”I believe they (African leaders) will set up the institutions and make the laws and the right pronouncements, but I suspect implementation might be weak, and that’s because in many instances the leaders themselves are tainted, and that makes it difficult for them to keep their subordinates in check,” said Ghana’s Oduro.Mbaya said she feared Africa’s new commitment to being open about its own problems could come back to haunt it.”We need to see the issue of governance as the latest trick on the conditionalities front.The fact that African leaders have acknowledged the challenge should not be used as loophole to raise the profile of governance issues.”-Nampa-Reuters