G-8 pledge not enough, critics charge

News that some of the continent's poorest countries will receive up to US $1 billion in additional debt relief won a mixed reaction on Monday, with some NGOs alleging that the G-8's pledges were "duplicitous" and "old fashioned ". Other political analysts, however, countered that it was unrealistic to expect overnight solutions from the world's most industrialised countries for Africa's myriad problems. G-8 leaders also earmarked US $6 billion for Africa of the US $12 billion they promised all poor countries at a conference in Mexico recently, though how this is to be spent remains to be decided. "The additional aid announced was mainly a restatement of existing commitments and was offered with conditions," Neville Gabriel of Jubilee South Africa, an anti-debt lobby group, told IRIN. He said that the West was "only trying to catch up on empty promises made three years ago at the Cologne summit for US $100 billion in debt relief in terms of the HIPC [Highly Indebted Poor Countries] relief initiative." "The new announcement was intended to provide extra relief to those countries that would not see any real reduction in debt servicing after HIPC debt relief, due to tumbling international commodity prices." This, he added, showed that the HIPC debt relief system would not work. Three years after the Cologne summit, four African countries - Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone and Zambia - reportedly face heavier debt repayments. African leaders, however, were more positive and welcomed the commitment of the G-8 leaders. South African President Thabo Mbeki described the G-8 Plan of Action for Africa as a "very, very good beginning", but said speed was needed to implement the decisions taken, the BBC reported. Although dismayed at the final outcome of the summit - which was touted as a critical juncture in north-south relations - Africa expert, Ross Herbert from the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), echoed Mbeki's sentiments. "On one level African leaders did receive exactly what they set out to achieve; unequivocal support for the NEPAD initiative. Although some observers are disappointed with the negligible monetary gains from the summit, and perhaps justifiably so, it was unrealistic to expect much more from the north. It must be pointed, out that the cornerstone of NEPAD is that Africans help themselves and this is exactly the message the G-8 members wanted to get across," he said. The Plan of Action promised aid, debt relief and military assistance from the world's richest nations to the poorest. The plan's main points include an agreement to develop a peacekeeping force in Africa, and a commitment to support democracy in Africa, with backing for human rights activities, and for measures promoting equality for women. On health, the plan proposes the eradication of polio in Africa by 2005, and moves to support the supply of life-saving drugs. Knowledge on biotechnology, and agricultural best practice, will be shared with the continent to boost its farming output and improve security of food supplies. African governments, as part of the deal, must now prove that they are committed to good governance and come up with concrete plans to eradicate corruption. Senior Researcher at the Pretoria-based Africa Institute, John Kudjo, said: "If NEPAD [New Partnership for Africa's Development] is going to succeed then African leaders must take seriously that the project of recovery is that of self reliance. If NEPAD is all about garnering more aid from the north, Africans are in for a big surprise." Mbeki and the co-architects of the ambitious plan have stressed that NEPAD is not about aid but instead about levelling the playing field of international trade. One of the more contentious issues which critics charged was side-stepped at the summit in Kananaskis, Canada, was that of huge agricultural subsidies for farmers in Europe and the United States which one analyst said, "artificially depressed world prices". "To advance trade liberalisation as a goal for African countries and continue to support massive agricultural subsidies is simply despicable," Herbert said. As African leaders mull over the post-mortem of their meeting with their northern counterparts, the Organisation of African Unity's (OAU) Council of Ministers has begun meeting in Durban, South Africa, to prepare for the inaugural launch of the African Union (AU). The AU will replace the OAU on Tuesday next week. Already cynics have said that the success of the union will be whether it is able to implement its own decisions. "Beyond the setting up of institutions which will hopefully plot the way forward for a united Africa, the challenge is in making this new, reinvigorated institution more relevant to ordinary African," regional legal analyst, Shadrack Gutto, told IRIN. The union will be multi-faceted, with an assembly made up of all the heads of state and an executive council composed of foreign ministers. Included in the union plan are a pan-African parliament, a court of justice and a central bank.