Aid to Africa Needs to be Increased

ADDIS ABABA - May 27/02 - IRIN -- Aid for Africa should be doubled if the continent is to meet millennium goals set by the United Nations, the president of the African Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday.

Omar Kabbaj said the development of the continent to meet the 2015 targets was being hampered by debt and a lack foreign aid and free trade. He called on the international community to play its part in alleviating the dire poverty blighting the continent, where nearly half the 700 million population live on less than a dollar a day.

Kabbaj was addressing the opening session of the 2002 ADB annual meeting, which is focusing on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NePAD). NePAD is an African plan aimed at tackling both political and economic problems on the continent.

He said NePAD offered Africans the chance to escape the problems by forging a new partnership between the continent and the international community. "Its fundamental purpose is to re-launch Africa's development and put it on a path of lasting peace, poverty reduction and sustainable development," he said.

Speaking at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Kabbaj told delegates that Africans faced major hurdles in their efforts to bring about development. "The success of NePAD will, of course, depend not only on what our countries do individually and collectively but also on the degree of support it garners from the international community," he said.

He called on countries to reverse the decline in overseas development assistance to help meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The targets include reducing by half the number of people living on less than a dollar a day and reducing by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. They also state that all children should complete a full course of primary school and that countries should halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.

"Given that development assistance presently accounts for only 0.22% of the GNP [Gross National Product] of donor countries, doubling the present level should be considered as the first step towards fulfilling the commitment made by the international community to attain the goal of 0.7% of GNP," he said.

He added that debt relief had become a critical issue because of the slowdown in the global economy, which has driven down the export earnings of many African countries. He also called for Africa to be given greater access to international markets.

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2002

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