New Africa Commission facing enormous challenge

British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, flew into Ethiopia on Wednesday to discus the plight of the world's poorest continent at a meeting of the new Commission for Africa that he helped to create. The 17-member commission itself faces a challenge, though: the perception among its detractors that it is simply “a talking shop”. Such critics maintain that while Africa’s problems are well known, the political will to pay for the solutions is lacking. The commission, however, rejects accusations they are repeating what is already known and that it is simply a talking shop. "There is no point in us reinventing the wheel," commission spokeswoman Nicola Savage said. "We are working very closely with existing initiatives. We can also mobilise international support, particularly the G8 behind the initiatives that are proposed. "Look at the make-up of the commission - these are all people of political significance. We have two prime ministers, one president and three finance ministers," she noted. "That is what the commission has to offer." Africa is the only continent to have grown poorer in the past 25 years, according to Blair. It is strapped by colossal debt totalling US $305 billion and accounts for just a little over two percent of world trade. Investment in the continent has also shrunk to $11 billion a year. More than 26 million Africans are infected with HIV, 95 percent of the world's total. An estimated 15 million Africans have died from the virus while 44 million children do not go to school. Conflicts have claimed over seven million lives and cost $250 billion with 186 coups d'etats and 26 major wars in the past half century. According to the UN, some half-dozen African countries are suffering from serious armed conflicts, among them Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Sudan. It is against this background that the commission is expected to focus on good governance, peace and security issues, culture and debt relief during its two-day meeting on 7-8th October. The idea to push the continent's problems to the top of the world's agenda came from former pop star, and long time campaigner against African poverty, Bob Geldof. Geldof, the inspiration behind Live Aid in 1985 and a commission member, has warned that failure would leave the prime minister wearing "a badge of shame". "It took 20 years for Africa to go from an issue of charity to one of justice," he said in Ethiopia on Saturday. "Next year Britain is president of EU and chair of the G8. It has massive political power - and is the anniversary of Live Aid. If the recommendations of the Commission are watered down by the bureaucrats I will say, 'we are not doing enough, we could have gone further'," he added. It is hoped that Geldof will be able to reach out to millions around the world who seldom give Africa a thought - just as he did when he organised the Live Aid concert that helped raise over $150 million in total after the Ethiopian famine in 1984. Blair's own motivation comes from a long held belief that Africa's poverty is a "scar on the conscience of the world”. The Commission, which Blair will chair, brings together leaders from the developed world and Africa. Of the 17 commissioners, nine will be from Africa. The Africans include President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Kingsley Amoako of the Economic Commission for Africa and Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN Habitat. It met in London in May and will publish a final report in April. It aims to tie in with - Nepad - the New Partnership of Africa's Development - Africa's most important economic blueprint. But for an African commission, critics say, no one from the African Union, the pan-African body that represents the continent's 53 nations and is pivotal for Nepad, is on the panel. Privately AU officials admit it was a "missed opportunity" not to join up, but add they have been "struggling for years" without recognition or real support. "We are sceptical because the solutions are already known," one senior official said. "All the arguments for fair trade are known but still the subsidies are continuing." Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who currently holds the chairmanship of the AU, earlier accused wealthy nations of not meeting their promises. "The list of unfulfilled commitments by our development partners is growing long," he told African leaders attending a summit in Ethiopia in July. Obasanjo says Africa needs an extra $64 billon to fill an annual resource gap of 12 percent of Africa's GDP in order to achieve a 7 percent annual economic growth rate. Aid organisations also question the real purpose of the commission. The charity, ActionAid called on Britain to increase its aid to Africa from 0.44 percent of GDP to the UN target of 0.7 percent. Richard Miller, director of the UK-based organisation, said: "Live Aid was about feeding the world. Now we need to change it. The commission must avoid being a talking shop. If the poor could eat words, Africa's problems would have been solved years ago. Africa needs concrete action." He added: "Those with real power are the west's finance ministers. These are the people who control the World Bank and IMF. For 20 years they have been pressing poor countries to privatise their public services and open their markets to foreign trade and Africa is still poor. It is no good talking about helping Africa while hanging on to outdated and discredited policies."