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Africa: Keep Your Promises, Continent Begs G8 States
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
8 July 2008
Posted to the web 8 July 2008
Bakari Machumu
African leaders urged the Group of Eight nations yesterday to keep their promises to assist the continent, saying soaring oil and food prices were making their poverty worse.
Speaking during the official opening of the G8 Summit, African Union chairman Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete said rich nations should nurture and fulfil their promises if they were really concerned about the continent's development.
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Eric Draper/White House Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and U.S. President George W. Bush. |
He also urged the G8 countries to help the continent to improve its dilapidated infrastructure, which is a vital sector in Africa's efforts to attain strong economic growth and reduce poverty.
President Kikwete told the leaders of the world's richest countries that without improving the continent's infrastructure "it would be a pipedream to achieve real economic development".
The G8 has been accused by activists of reneging on the promise made at its 2005 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, to double aid by 2010 to $50 billion, half of which would go to Africa.
"Some African leaders just wanted to emphasise that while appreciating G8 leaders' commitment to help Africa in past G8 summits, they just wanted to point that they would like to see these commitments fully implemented," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama said.
The push towards fulfilment of previous summits' promises was expected to be African leaders' additional agenda, with analysts and advocacy group considering it the most important part of this year's summit in Hokkaiko, Japan.
Instead, the G8 leaders referred further dialogue and monitoring of implementations to other forums involving African countries and respective members of the rich nations.
African countries will now have to use forums like United Nations conferences to further their agenda on the Millennium Development Goals. Others include the World Bank, European Union instruments and African Partnership Forum and the Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD) annual ministerial meetings.
G8 leaders from Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Russia and the US attended yesterday's opening session, meant to incorporate African views in today members-only talks. The heads of state of Tanzania, Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa represented Africa.
Speaking during a press briefing on Africa-G8 leaders' discussions yesterday, press secretary of Japan's Foreign Affairs ministry Kazuo Kodama said the next summit - to take place in Italy - would review progress made through such forums.
With two years to go, activists are worried that G8 leaders will not meet their $25 billion additional aid for Africa, they promised in Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005.
Mr Kodama said the rich nations were prepared to continue supporting the agriculture sector, including small-scale farmers.
No specific figure has been committed, said Mr Kodama, who is also director general for press and public relations, said.
Oxfam International estimates aid support for African agriculture at $2 billion. The G8 has not made concrete commitments on agriculture in recent years.
Led by AU chairman President Kikwete, African leaders urged G8 leaders to help provide appropriate technology and inputs, especially seeds and fertilizers, if the continent was to successfully tackle the food crisis.
African leaders commended Japan for its plan to double rice production in the continent.
They also warned that it would be difficult for African countries to achieve MDGs by 2015, if no intervention was made.
Their fear was also echoed by United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who said at a press conference in Hokkaido that he hoped to have renewed commitment from the donor community before the UN Summit scheduled for September 25.
An activist on African affairs, Mr James Shikwati, said the meeting provided an opportunity for leaders to bring their agenda to the limelight.
"I think African leaders should not boycott such summits; however, they ought to meet prior to going to such summits and develop their own game plan for Africa.
"As it is now, each one goes to the summit seeking individual interest and with divided attention, whereas the G8 team focuses on the continent in its totality," Mr Shikwati, who is the director of the Nairobi-based Inter Region Economic Network, told The Citizen.
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Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda presented his country's position and commitments derived from the TICAD4 summit held in Yokohama in May. Japan announced that is will double aid to Africa from $900 million to $1.8 billion by 2012.
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