"Participation Builds Unity"
"MADE IN AFRICA - FOR AFRICA"
"Participation Builds Unity"
"MADE IN AFRICA - FOR AFRICA"
PRESENTS
World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa Summit
THE PRESSING ISSUE OF AID TO AFRICA
USA-SA BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
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EXCLUSIVE
Carl NOFFKE (Prof)
08 June 2005
THE PRESSING ISSUE OF AID TO AFRICA
The British-inspired Commission for Africa, recommending increased development aid in Africa, was the focus of the World Economic Forum’s African summit in Cape Town last week.
The organisers used the opportunity to bolster support for the commission’s proposals, shortly before the Gleneagles (Scotland) Group of Eight (G-8) meeting. Unfortunately, the leadership role of the United States in assisting Africa was mainly ignored.
South Africa’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel suggested that a new way needed to be devised to measure aid which focused on the “quality of aid”.
He added: “Too much aid remains in the donor country under the guise of technical assistance and never touches the ground in the recipient country.”
The summit was attended by key business and political leaders.
An unfortunate moment occurred when Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa defended Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe during one of the meetings.
The Cape Town summit analysed Africa’s poverty dilemma in depth.
However, the mere fact that British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived at the White House for brief talks with President Bush yesterday (Tuesday) was an indication of the United States’ leadership role in providing massive assistance to developing countries in Africa.
The Bush administration seeks to ensure that the G-8 countries focus aid for Africa on achieving worthy results. Furthermore, its Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is changing the way aid funds are dispersed by targeting only those countries that demonstrate the ability and commitment to use it wisely.
Some analysts estimate that nearly US$1 trillion has been spent by international donors and multilateral financial institutions on aid to Africa, but most of the continent is poorer today than when the era of independence dawned.
Facts about assistance to Africa
Now the wealthy European Union (EU) finance ministers propose to double aid for the economic development of Africa from US$40 billion to $80 billion by 2010.
With the United States somewhat on the backburner in Cape Town, it was worth noting what occurred when South African President Thabo Mbeki met President George W. Bush in the White House a week ago.
It is also important to note the US’s contribution to Africa.
Briefly: The US has been leading the way in giving aid to African countries. Since 2001 the US has tripled its assistance to Africa.
The South African President expressed his appreciation for Pres. Bush’s commitment to help SA meet its domestic challenges and for US assistance to the rest of the African continent. The US’s contribution to helping Africa solve peace and security issues has been vital, he said, as has its contribution to African economic recovery and development. In this respect he referred particularly to US help through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Darfur
Zimbabwe
To help the people of Zimbabwe overcome their political problems, Pres. Bush called for political arrangements to address the rule of law, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly that would require Zimbabweans to look at their constitution and their legislation.
“And this is a direction in which we’re trying to encourage them to move," Pres. Mbeki said, “so that they create this political basis where everybody is comfortable that you’ve got a stable, democratic system in the country, which is critically fundamental to addressing these other major challenges of ensuring the recovery of the economy of Zimbabwe, and really improving the lives of the people. So that’s the direction we’re taking.”
“Zimbabwe has a right to manage its own affairs,” he said last Thursday.
He is obviously unaware that the acts of the Mugabe government severely restrain foreign direct investment (FDI) in sub-Saharan Africa.
The G-8 countries adopted the African Action Plan in 2002. The US has fulfilled its commitments under the action plan and encourages other G-8 countries to fully play their role in meeting commitments.
The US view is that money given to Africa should be used in an effective way and to achieve its intended results.
When he met Pres. Mbeki at the White House a week ago, Pres Bush explained that he intends to advance what he described as “the compassion agenda” at the G-8 Summit to provide economic and humanitarian assistance to African countries in need.
Speaking after the meeting, Pres. Bush said positive steps have been taken, thanks to previous G-8 discussions that have fostered a “commitment to trade, as well as humanitarian help.”
Pres. Bush added that it is important for African nations to understand that aid has become a “two-way street…countries such as ours are not going to give aid to countries that are corrupt, or don’t hold true to democratic principles, such as rule of law and transparency and human rights and human decency.”
The American president also characterised the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan in the words of former US Secretary of State Colin Powell as “genocide”. He said the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has agreed to help the African Union (AU) to position its peacekeeping troops both to improving the distribution of humanitarian aid and to bringing “stability and hopefully some breathing room, so there can be a political agreement.”
Noteworthy was the comments by the two presidents about Zimbabwe’s political and economic turmoil.
“[We’re] obviously concerned about a country that was able to feed itself and now has to import food, as an example of the consequence of not adhering to democratic principles,” Pres. Bush said.
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