G8 leaders to boost African aid by US$50 billion

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Group of Eight leaders agreed to boost development aid to Africa by 50 billion dollars as part of a package to fight poverty in Africa, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said here on Friday.

Blair told a press conference at the end of a three-day G8 summit that the package included “the US$50 billion (N$340 billion) uplift in aid, the signal for a new deal on trade, the cancellation of the debts for the poorest nations, universal access to AIDS treatment.” The prime minister did not make clear over what period the aid would be delivered, but the draft anti-poverty plan discussed ahead of the summit mentioned an extra US$50 billion in aid a year by 2010.Nor did Blair specify how much debt was cancelled but G8 finance ministers agreed last month to immediately write off US$40 billion of the world’s poorest nations, most of them in Africa.Blair also told reporters that there was a plan for a new peacekeeping force in Africa in exchange for the commitment of African leaders to democracy, good governance and the rule of law.”All of this does not change the world tomorrow, it is a beginning, not an end,” he said.”None of this today will match the same ghastly impact of the cruelty of terror.”Blair was speaking at the Gleneagles golf resort with the the leaders of the G8 industrial countries and five African countries beside him.The G8 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.Meanwhile, the G8 will begin a new dialogue with emerging economies on climate change beginning with a meeting to be held in Britain on November 1, Blair has said.Blair, who has made tackling global warming a priority for his G-8 presidency, acknowledged the international community had been divided over the issue.”We do not hide the disagreements of the past, but we have agreed a process with a positive plan of action that will initiate a new dialogue between the G8 countries and the emerging economies of the world,to slow down and then intime to reverse the rise in harmful greenhouse gas emissions,” added Blair, who invited the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, China, South Africa and India to attend the G-8 summit on Thursday.- Nampa-AFPThe prime minister did not make clear over what period the aid would be delivered, but the draft anti-poverty plan discussed ahead of the summit mentioned an extra US$50 billion in aid a year by 2010.Nor did Blair specify how much debt was cancelled but G8 finance ministers agreed last month to immediately write off US$40 billion of the world’s poorest nations, most of them in Africa.Blair also told reporters that there was a plan for a new peacekeeping force in Africa in exchange for the commitment of African leaders to democracy, good governance and the rule of law.”All of this does not change the world tomorrow, it is a beginning, not an end,” he said.”None of this today will match the same ghastly impact of the cruelty of terror.”Blair was speaking at the Gleneagles golf resort with the the leaders of the G8 industrial countries and five African countries beside him.The G8 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.Meanwhile, the G8 will begin a new dialogue with emerging economies on climate change beginning with a meeting to be held in Britain on November 1, Blair has said.Blair, who has made tackling global warming a priority for his G-8 presidency, acknowledged the international community had been divided over the issue.”We do not hide the disagreements of the past, but we have agreed a process with a positive plan of action that will initiate a new dialogue between the G8 countries and the emerging economies of the world,to slow down and then intime to reverse the rise in harmful greenhouse gas emissions,” added Blair, who invited the leaders of Brazil, Mexico, China, South Africa and India to attend the G-8 summit on Thursday.- Nampa-AFP