Longe de Africa

in BBC

Italy and France 'failing Africa'

The campaigners fear the global financial crisis could affect aid donations
Italy and France have been accused of reneging on promises to increase aid to African nations.
Anti-poverty group One, set up by rock star Bono, said Italy had actually cut aid to Africa despite making ambitious pledges at a 2005 economic summit.
And it accused France of reducing its aid targets and cutting its aid budget.
The report, backed by figures like Bill Gates and Desmond Tutu, said Italy and France are holding back other members of the G8 group of rich nations.
The BBC's international development correspondent David Loyn says the research is underpinned by a fear that the global economic downturn could undo what modest progress has already been made.
Sir Bob Geldof and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan have written a joint introduction to the report in which they talk about the global financial crisis.
They say the world's poorest people have benefited least from globalisation, but they are now suffering the most from a crisis they did not cause.
Italy 'has no credibility'
The One report concluded that the US, Canada and Japan had largely met their commitments - adding that their pledges had been relatively modest.
It's a big problem that requires a big decisive response from all those who are fortunate enough to be well-off
Silvio BerlusconiItalian prime minister
It said the UK and Germany had missed some targets but were attempting to put in place much more ambitious programmes than the other nations.
The report, due for its worldwide release later, is particularly critical of Italy, which is due to hold a G8 summit later this year.
"Italy has said it will put Africa at the forefront of the agenda at the G8 summit," the report says.
"Based on its performance against the [last G8 summit] commitments, it has no credibility to host discussions of such global importance."
During a news conference on Wednesday Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - who is meeting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - called for decisive action from wealthy countries to help bring Africa out of its misery.
"It's a big problem that requires a big decisive response from all those who are fortunate enough to be well-off," he said.
However, he said that aid could not simply continue to pour in to Africa.
He accused some African leaders of funnelling money into their own Swiss bank accounts rather than use it to help their people.