INTERVIEW-G8 must give Africa aid faster - Annan
By Orla Ryan
ACCRA, June 11 (Reuters) - The world's richest nations must speed up aid for Africa and should set a timeline for delivering the $60 billion pledged last week to fight diseases ravaging the continent, former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Monday.
At a summit in Germany, leaders of major industrialised states grouped in the Group of Eight (G8) promised on Friday to provide $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis which are killing thousands a day in Africa.
But the public commitment set no specific timetable for disbursement, prompting some development campaigners to criticise it as a hollow pledge aimed more at grabbing headlines than really helping the world's poorest continent.
"The track record so far is not very good and I hope it must be understood that if the intention is to honour the promises that have been made, they will need to intensify their efforts," former U.N. Secretary-General Annan told Reuters.
The career diplomat, who last year ended a 10-year tenure at the head of the world body, said the extensive debt relief which several African countries had received from rich countries and multilateral lenders was not necessarily enough in itself to bring in fresh funds for development.
"Over and above that, they do need additional resources in terms of aid, they would want to be able to trade themselves out of their poverty if there is a level playing field," he added in a brief interview in Accra.
Annan, who is Ghanaian, was attending the launch of the Africa Progress Panel, an independent body set up to ensure that the G8 powers meet their promises to increase aid to Africa.
The panel's members include former International Monetary Fund director Michel Camdessus, microfinance pioneer and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammad Yunus, Irish rock star and development activist Bob Geldof and Peter Eigen of Transparency International, which campaigns for graft-free government.
Earlier, Annan spoke to reporters about his concern that the latest Africa aid pledge from the G8, for $60 billion, did not break down individual countries' contributions, nor spell out how much of the sum had been previously promised.
"It is a big amount. There is no indication as to how it will be disbursed," he said.
Annan said he believed about half of the money promised "over the coming years" would come from the United States, while the rest would come from the other members of the group -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
This would be "quite a challenge", he said.
"That is one of the reasons why we believe that when the G8 make these promises, they should come up with a timetable (for delivering the funds)," Annan added.
U.S. President George W. Bush earlier this month announced plans to double Washington's financial commitment to the anti-AIDS fight to $30 billion over five years, which was included in the total G8 Africa aid figure pledged in Germany.
ACCRA, June 11 (Reuters) - The world's richest nations must speed up aid for Africa and should set a timeline for delivering the $60 billion pledged last week to fight diseases ravaging the continent, former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Monday.
At a summit in Germany, leaders of major industrialised states grouped in the Group of Eight (G8) promised on Friday to provide $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis which are killing thousands a day in Africa.
But the public commitment set no specific timetable for disbursement, prompting some development campaigners to criticise it as a hollow pledge aimed more at grabbing headlines than really helping the world's poorest continent.
"The track record so far is not very good and I hope it must be understood that if the intention is to honour the promises that have been made, they will need to intensify their efforts," former U.N. Secretary-General Annan told Reuters.
The career diplomat, who last year ended a 10-year tenure at the head of the world body, said the extensive debt relief which several African countries had received from rich countries and multilateral lenders was not necessarily enough in itself to bring in fresh funds for development.
"Over and above that, they do need additional resources in terms of aid, they would want to be able to trade themselves out of their poverty if there is a level playing field," he added in a brief interview in Accra.
Annan, who is Ghanaian, was attending the launch of the Africa Progress Panel, an independent body set up to ensure that the G8 powers meet their promises to increase aid to Africa.
The panel's members include former International Monetary Fund director Michel Camdessus, microfinance pioneer and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammad Yunus, Irish rock star and development activist Bob Geldof and Peter Eigen of Transparency International, which campaigns for graft-free government.
Earlier, Annan spoke to reporters about his concern that the latest Africa aid pledge from the G8, for $60 billion, did not break down individual countries' contributions, nor spell out how much of the sum had been previously promised.
"It is a big amount. There is no indication as to how it will be disbursed," he said.
Annan said he believed about half of the money promised "over the coming years" would come from the United States, while the rest would come from the other members of the group -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
This would be "quite a challenge", he said.
"That is one of the reasons why we believe that when the G8 make these promises, they should come up with a timetable (for delivering the funds)," Annan added.
U.S. President George W. Bush earlier this month announced plans to double Washington's financial commitment to the anti-AIDS fight to $30 billion over five years, which was included in the total G8 Africa aid figure pledged in Germany.
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
economic plan
McCain offers his own economic plan
