7-11-05,10:22am

Africa Action Denounces G-8 Plans for Africa as Fraudulent

Friday, July 8, 2005 (Washington, DC) - Africa Action today rejected the Group of 8 (G-8) statement on Africa for its stunning failure to deliver on the promised debt cancellation, trade reforms, and development assistance needed to “Make Poverty History”. Today’s confirmation of a deal to cancel the debts of 18 impoverished countries, 14 of which are in Africa, leaves the majority of African countries trapped under the burden of illegitimate debt. Africa Action also rejected as inadequate the $25 billion annual increase in aid to Africa by 2010. The complete failure to make progress on trade reforms and climate change, as well as the absence of a plan to stop genocide in Darfur, Sudan, made this year’s G-8 Summit an ineffective response to Africa’s challenges.

This week the African Union (AU) echoed African civil society calls for 100% debt cancellation for all African countries. African civil society released a statement today expressing extreme disappointment in the outcomes of the Gleneagles Summit saying, “The G-8 leaders have come not with bold actions but with more promises and empty words.” Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said, “This G-8 plan is inadequate and a contemptuous response to African demands for justice. It is an unapologetic confirmation of the global apartheid system, in which the most impoverished continent bankrolls the development of the rich world. Their announcement to increase aid to Africa is the greatest hoax of our time. While they trumpet miniscule increases in development assistance, they continue to extract billions of dollars a year in debt repayments from countries excluded from this diminutive debt deal.”

Marie Clarke Brill, Director of Public Education & Mobilization at Africa Action, said, 'Our disappointment with this G-8 statement cannot be more profound. Summit after summit, the G-8 has made hollow commitments to reducing poverty in Africa. The G-8 leaves African countries with few options save the repudiation of their illegitimate debt. The fact that the G-8 paid scant attention to both the HIV/AIDS crisis which poses the greatest threat to Africa’s development, and the genocide in Darfur, illustrates the superficial nature of their response to Africa’s peace and development challenges.”

Mvuselelo Ngcoya, Program Associate at Africa Action, noted, 'We vehemently reject the insipid response of the G-8 on fair trade and climate change. The G-8 leaders opted for empty and misguided rhetoric over realistic plans. They use ‘trade capacity building assistance’ to bribe African countries to adopt destructive liberalization policies that have undermined Africa’s economic growth. The brutal failure to abolish the $350 billion in agricultural subsidies in wealthy countries while forcing African countries to lay their markets bare is complete hypocrisy.”

Africa Action also noted that the African continent will be affected earlier and more severely by global warming than most other parts of the world. The G-8’s disregard for the urgent need for emission reduction targets and timelines is yet another blow for Africa.

From Africa Action