UN chief urges rich nations to double aid to Africa
UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged rich countries to honor a pledge to doubel annual aid to Africa, as Nicolas Sarkozy warned new donors like China against fueling a new "debt crisis" on the continent.
By Agencies |
UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged rich countries here Monday to honor a pledge to doubel annual aid to Africa, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned new donors like China against fueling a new "debt crisis" on the continent.
"I appeal to all donors to implement the 2005 Gleneagles summit pledge to more than double aid to Africa (to bring it to 50 billion dollars)," he told the meeting, being held on the eve of the opening of the General Assembly's annual general debate.
At their 2005 summit in the Scottish town of Gleneagles, G8 countries -- the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia -- vowed to boost aid to Africa with an extra 25 billion dollars (17 billion euros) per year by 2010.
Since then, several revisions have lowered the figure to 21.8 billion dollars, and according to the UN and the AU, development aid has only increased by about a quarter of that amount.
And the recent meltdown of the global financial industry that led to a proposed 700-billion-dollar US government bailout is likely to make donors even less willing to offer more help.
In a report unveiled September 11, Ban warned that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by world leaders eight years ago might not be met by the 2015 target date, particularly in Africa.
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The study noted that total net aid from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries came to only 0.28 percent of their combined Gross National Income, as opposed to the UN target of 0.7 percent, he noted. "We now have a good idea of what is needed," Ban told representatives of more than 160 countries, among them French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, here Monday.
"It will cost about 72 billion dollars per year in external financing to achieve the MDGs (in Africa) by the 2015 deadline," the UN secretary general added. "This price tag may look daunting. But it is affordable and falls within existing aid commitments."
"Working together, the OECD countries can easily raised 72 billion (dollars)," Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the current chairman of the African Union (AU), told reporters.
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On concern that the current global financial crisis might prompt donors to scale back their commitments, Donald Kaberuka, head of the African Development Bank, said: "I hope it does not lead to a reduced effort for the developing countries. Because that would be quite a big disappointment." "We are a global village and the demands are, quite, frankly, modest : 72 billion dollars," he added.
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Sarkozy, whose country currently chairs the European Union (EU), told the gathering that "the globalized world needs a developed Africa" and said the EU would honor its pledges to aid the African continent. The 27-member EU pledged in June to "commit 0.7 percent of its wealth to official development aid in 2015," Sarkozy recalled.
But he also warned new donors like China against helping set "the stage for a new debt crisis" in Africa.
"Our collective efforts since the 1990s reduced the continent's external debt by 25 percent," Sarkozy said.
"Europeans and Africans have agreed on untying aid. Why then go back on this principle with donors from other continents," he said, referring to countries like China, without mentioning it by name.
Western analysts have warned that China's offer of billions of dollars in unconditional aid and cheap loans to African governments risks pushing back into debt countries that have only just benefited from debt relief and hurts efforts to promote democratic rule and good governance.
UN officials have said the aim of Monday's summit is to help streamline actions and upgrade priorities toward implementing the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
NEPAD, launched in 2001 with international backing, is an ambitious blueprint for good governance that aims to help boost Africa's economic performance.
In 2000, a world summit here agreed on eight development goals to be implemented by all countries by 2015. They included halving the number of people living below the poverty line -- now set at 1.25 dollar a day -- between 1990 and 2015.
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