The Hindu : Business : Blair initiates aid strategy for Africa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 27, 2005

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Business

Blair initiates aid strategy for Africa

By Batuk Gathani

LONDON, MARCH 26. The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who will soon chair the Group of Eight Forum and the European Union from June this year, has launched the strategy to double aid to Africa.

Mr. Blair's initiated `Commission for Africa' has recently outlined an ambitious report and has submitted that a new aid strategy comprising of $75,000 million to heal many of Africa's terrible wounds may sharply reduce incidence of extreme poverty, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. The recommendations of the `Commission for Africa' are wide-ranging and uncompromising as Africa will be placed at the top of the agenda for Britain's Presidency of the Group of Eight (World's richest developed countries) coupled with Britain's six-monthly rotating presidency of the European Union from June to December 2005. The British-initiated Commission for Africa has called for radical changes in Africa aid and analysts point out that management, corruption, nepotism and bad governance are not overlooked.

Although in recent years, Africa as a whole has partially recovered, economic growth rates are still modest — hovering between 3 and 5 per cent. But despite the recent recovery, reality is that Sub-Saharan Africa's share of world gross domestic product is pegged at below 1 per cent compared to enviable 6-8 per cent in emerging Asia and Latin American countries.

Mineral wealth

The Western world is also desperately keen to ensure that it does not lose its grip on Africa's minerals and natural resources. Despite all the rhetoric about vastly improving living standards and elimination of poverty in Africa, both the western multinational companies and private enterprises look at Africa as the continent of the 21st Century. Hence, it is argued that current western discourse on Africa lacks subtlety and historical depth and at best it is utopian based on self-interest. Corruption and bad governance in most African countries are so endemic and deep-rooted that chances of any improvement in the immediate future look remote, if not impossible.

Despite all current rhetoric about free trade and smooth access to western markets for African agricultural products and manufactured goods — however crude and basic they may be — the developed countries continue to dominate dialogue, debate and agenda at the world trade and economic forums.

Rampant corruption

The most corrupt countries in the world are the poorest — currently headed by Bangladesh and followed by Haiti, Nigeria, Chad, Burma, Angola, Congo and Ivory Coast — according to the Berlin-based Transparency International. Apart from discussing the ifs and buts of economic and financial aid, the western institutions should also monitor how many politicians and beaurocrats in the world's poorest countries devote time to development work to improve living standards and aspire for better governance, perhaps less than 10 per cent. According to Transparency International at least $400,000 million were misdirected worldwide last year through bribery in government procurement. Hence, many are wondering if the latest exercise proposed by the Commission for Africa may not be heading the same way.

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