G8 nations under fire for failing to meet aid pledge to African nations

 PARIS: Group of Eight rich countries, gathering for a summit this week, are under fire from Africa and activist movements that accuse them of reneging on aid pledges at a time when China is looming large on the continent.

 "I am sorry to say that the promises made at Gleneagles have not been kept," Niger Prime Minister Hama Amadou said at a recent meeting to prepare for the G8 summit, to be held June 6-8 in the German Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm. It was at a G8 gathering in Gleneagles, Scotland two years ago that the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States vowed to increase aid to developing nations by 50 billion dollars a year by 2010, of which 25 billion dollars would be earmarked for Africa. It was also agreed that the multilateral debt of 18 of the world's poorest nations would be immediately cancelled. While the debt commitment has been met, according to non-governmental organisations, the aid pledge made at Gleneagles has languished.   

Action Aid recently released a report in London sharply critical of G8 compliance with commitments made at the Gleneagles gathering, which was backed by mass pop concerts in cities worldwide calling for an end to poverty in Africa. "In 2005 there was a massive public mandate worldwide calling for an end to poverty but the G8 are just defrauding the public and failing Africa," said Collins Magalasi, Head of Action Aid's South Africa Country Programme. "Aid to Africa fell short by eight billion dollars in 2006 despite the G8's pledge at Gleneagles to increase aid," he said, noting that Germany, France and Italy were each responsible for around two billion dollars of that shortfall. "It's time for them to back their promises with money," he insisted.

Oxfam International said this week that the G8, under pressure from Canada and Italy, was in fact hesitant even to renew its Gleneagles promises. "It is outrageous that the countries of the G8 are not even in a position to reiterate their 2005 commitments," said Sebastien Fourmy of Oxfam France. "They are breaking their word and dodging their responsibilities."   

Oxfam estimates that G8 nations are 30 billion dollars short of meeting their increased aid pledge at a time when their economies are flourishing to a degree not seen for 30 years. A report in early April from the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development concluded that aid to poor countries provided by its industrialised member nations declined 5.1 percent in 2006 and was likely to fall further this year. "The G8 is confronting a credibility crisis in Africa," noted a European official specialising in Africa at the OECD.   

The Group of Eight at Gleneagles also made a commitment to spurring progress at deadlocked multilateral trade liberalisation talks. The negotiations, which were launched in the Qatari capital Doha in late 2001, aim to boost living standards in poor countries through the fruits of freer trade. But the negotiating process has foundered ever since in the face of US and European determination to protect their agricultural sectors.   

Germany, as host of the upcoming G8 summit, is expected to announce an increase in its annual assistance to poor countries of 2-3 billion euros (2.7-4.0 billion dollars), according to German press reports. The G8 as a whole could in addition pledge fresh money to the global battle against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, the reports said.  But G8 members also intend to use the summit to demand greater transparency from African governments in the administration of public funds and might take the occasion to warn China on its lending policies in Africa.Western powers fear that China, anxious to secure access to African natural resources, may be lending money too freely to the continent.