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G8 says to more than double aid to Africa

Posted on: Friday, 8 July 2005, 09:39 CDT

GLENEAGLES, Scotland (Reuters) - The leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations said on Friday they would more than double aid to Africa by 2010, boosting it by about $25 billion a year to help lift the continent out of poverty.

The G8 leaders also pledged that they and other donors would increase total aid for all developing countries by about $50 billion a year by 2010.

"We agreed that we and our African partners had a common interest in building on (that) progress to create a strong, peaceful and prosperous Africa," said the G8 president, British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"We know this is only the beginning, we must build on the progress we have made today."

But aid agencies, who had called for that amount immediately plus debt cancellation and fairer trade terms, said the move was too little, too late for a continent where poverty claims a child's life every 10 seconds.

"The G8's aid increase could save the lives of 5 million children by 2010 -- but 50 million children's lives will still be lost because the G8 didn't go as far as they should have done," said Jo Leadbeater, policy head for aid group Oxfam.

Blair, who has described Africa as a "scar on the conscience of the world" put tackling its poverty at the heart of his G8 presidency this year.

The G8 leaders also backed a long-term deal to wipe out more than $40 billion of impoverished nations' debt and said they would work toward making trade fairer.

Source: REUTERS

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