Africans tell rich nations to honor aid promises

By Lesley Wroughton

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - African leaders on Monday told rich countries to honor their aid commitments to help it tackle hunger and poverty, even as a financial crisis threatens to cut into the aid budgets of its biggest donors.

Speaking during a U.N. meeting on Africa's development needs, Africa Union Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said he was concerned the financial turmoil in global markets would escalate, but rich countries had made aid promises to Africa that they should keep.

"We want the developed nations to perform their moral obligation of assisting the poor," Kikwete told a news conference. "We want the developed countries to deliver on the rest of their commitments that they have not honored."

He said money was especially important at a time when many African economies are growing strongly and need to build transport routes and increase power supply to get products to international markets.

"Where there is a will, there is always a way," Kikwete said. "There may not be easy answers but I believe the U.S. will overcome the crisis."

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged concerted global action, warning that Africa was falling behind in goals to drastically reduce poverty by 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals, set by world leaders in 2000.

He said soaring food and fuel prices and the effects of climate change were new challenges facing Africa and its efforts to tackle poverty, hunger and disease.

Ban, who has chosen the poverty goals as the keynote theme of the annual General Assembly gathering of leaders of the 192 U.N. member states, said it would take $72 billion a year to help Africa.

"This price tag may look daunting but it is affordable and falls within existing aid commitments," he said, noting that the world's industrialized countries spent an estimated $267 billion last year on agricultural subsidies alone.

A $700-billion rescue plan by the U.S. government for troubled Wall Street firms amounts to 10 times the aid Ban called for in his speech. The financial crisis pushed global oil prices up by over 20 percent -- its biggest one-day gain on record -- to more than $120 a barrel on Monday.

UNDEVELOPED WEALTH

Kikwete said while Africa may be rich in oil resources, much of that wealth had not yet been developed.

"We will plan our own development, but we have inadequate resources to be able to implement those plans ... and we want our efforts complimented by the developed countries," he said.

African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka said a slowdown in growth in developed countries would impact Africa, especially if demand for its commodities declined sharply.

"This crisis is serious, but frankly, I hope it doesn't lead to reduced efforts to help developing countries because that would be a disappointment," said Kaberuka.