SOMALIA IS NOT ON THE LIST. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.

[Camel Mlik]

G8 reaches deal for world's poor

 

The main beneficiaries of the deal could be Africa's poor

The world's eight richest countries have reached a landmark debt relief deal to alleviate global poverty.

The move provides relief for poor, indebted nations, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, freeing up much-needed revenue.

 

Announcing the deal at a meeting of G8 finance ministers in London, the UK's Gordon Brown said now was "not a time for timidity but a time for boldness".

 

The UK, which will host a summit of G8 leaders next month, has vowed to make poverty reduction a priority.

 

 

Click here for a map showing highly-indebted poor countries

The plan, which was devised by the UK, secured the backing of the US administration on Friday - paving the way for its adoption at the London meeting.

 

Conditions

 

Under the deal, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Fund will immediately write off 100% of the money owed to them by 18 countries - a total of $40bn (£22bn; 33bn euros).

 

 

Our agreement in return for debt relief is that it goes towards health... teachers, and infrastructure

 

Gordon Brown

 

 

Q&A: African debt deal

Between them, it will save those countries a total of $1.5bn a year in debt repayments.

 

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said up to 20 other countries could be eligible if they meet targets for good governance and tackling corruption.

 

The total package - which needs to be approved by the lending institutions - could be worth more than $55bn.

 

"We are presenting the most comprehensive statement that finance ministers have ever made on the issues of debt, development, health and poverty," Mr Brown said.

 

He added that the plan set the stage for July's G8 summit, where world leaders intend "to forge a new and better relationship, a new deal between the rich and poor countries of the world".

 

US Treasury Secretary John Snow hailed the agreement as "historic".

 

No apologies

 

Relief groups welcomed the plan as a step in the right direction - but said some it should be extended to cover more developing countries.

 

DEBT RELIEF PLAN

Debts written off for 18 countries - total $40bn

Debt repayments saved by the group each year - $1.5bn

Nine more countries to qualify within 18 months - takes total to $55bn

UK's contribution over next 10 years: $700-$960m

US contribution: $1.3bn-$1.75bn

Africa's total external debt: $300bn

"The debt deal is very good news for people in the 18 countries that will immediately benefit," said Romilly Greenhill of ActionAid.

 

"But it will do little to immediately help millions in at least 40 other countries that also need 100% debt relief."

 

Earlier John Nagenda, an adviser to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, told the BBC it was time for rich nations to deliver on their promises.

 

"I should be more apologetic and say please help us but where I come from we believe that if you are better off than someone else you help them. It's as simple as that - it's a moral duty."

 

The G8 countries are the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

 

 

Twenty-seven countries are eligible for debt relief under the HIPC (highly-indebted poor countries initiative). The 18 that have reached completion point, and will therefore qualify for immediate debt relief, are shown in bold:

 

Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia

 

 

Click to return

[Sky]

Somalia is on the list of the countries that theoretically qualify for debt cancelling/relief but arent allowed so far.

 

Pressure for Africa poverty deal

 

 

By Steve Schifferes=

 

BBC News economics reporter at the G7 finance ministers meeting =

 

London, 10 June 2005 (BBC)--Finance ministers from the world's richest countries have gathered in London in an attempt to agree a debt relief deal to help Africa's poor.

 

The talks come just a month before world leaders - and thousands of anti-poverty campaigners - converge at Gleneagles for a G8 summit.

 

Britain has vowed to make poverty reduction a key plank of the summit.

 

Its plans got a boost as the White House confirmed the US and UK had agreed on how to implement debt cuts.

 

Germany, France and Japan are believed to be doubtful about a total debt write-off for poor countries so having US support may help UK Chancellor Gordon Brown win them over.

 

Mr Brown welcomed the eight finance ministers, who were joined by the new World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, and EU economic affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia, to a working dinner at Lancaster House.

 

Mr Brown expressed optimism that a debt deal would be done, saying that there was the "political will of the richest countries to move forward," and promising that it would be "the biggest debt settlement the world has ever seen".

 

But the German Finance Minister, Hans Eichel, said he thought there would be no deal until Gleneagles.

 

"We will not come to an agreement here," he said. "What I see as very important is that we stick with the case-by-case approach on debt relief for every single country."

 

Debt deal?

 

The finance ministers spent Friday discussing the outline plan from the UK and US to write off the debts of 18 highly-indebted countries in Africa, according to White House spokesman Scott McCellan.

 

Full details of the plan were not available.

 

Mr McCellan said it would "cancel 100% of the World Bank, African Development Bank and IMF debt" - suggesting the US may have dropped objections to including IMF debts.

 

Funding the plan remains controversial. The US has previously said any debt relief from the World Bank should come out of funds the organisation uses to lend to poor countries.

 

Mr McCellan said debt would only be cancelled only for countries that showed a commitment to "sound economic policies" and reducing corruption.

 

Anti-poverty campaigners are concerned that only 27 poor countries have qualified for debt relief and would benefit from any initiative. They argue that 62 countries, including large debtors like Nigeria and Indonesia, should be included.

 

"There is only a 60% chance of a deal on debt relief, it is no means certain, and on aid we don't expect very much at all which is very disappointing," said Romilly Greenhill, policy officer at ActionAid.

 

Germany, France and Japan have proposed that the rich countries shoulder the costs of servicing poor nations debt, rather than write off the debts entirely.

 

However, Canada, which had earlier backed these plans, now appears to moving to support a complete write-off.

 

Disagreements among the rich

 

The finance ministers are hoping to resolve deep-seated disagreements over key proposals to boost aid to Africa, as well as cutting debt.

 

Despite a personal plea from Tony Blair, the US is unlikely to support a doubling in aid flows to poor countries to help them meet UN targets on poverty reduction.

 

The UK plan for an International Financing Facility, which would issue $50bn in bonds against future aid flows, is now likely to proceed only on a limited basis, perhaps supported by other EU countries but not by the US or Japan - the world's two biggest economies.

 

Nor does the US favour a French proposal to tax international airline travel to fund additional aid flows.

 

Public pressure

 

The development lobby, which is organising mass demonstrations during the summit, wants finance ministers to agree debt relief for all poor countries, back calls to double aid to $100bn a year, and reform the world trading system.

 

Campaigners said that growing pressure from the public was beginning to tell on governments.

 

African leaders generally welcomed the prospect of a deal.

 

Finance Minister Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu of Ghana, which would benefit from debt relief, said on Friday that African leaders must live up to their part of the deal in ensuring that the money from debt relief is spent wisely.

 

"We need to reinvest well enough whatever we get from it," he said.

 

The G8 countries are United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

 

The 27 countries who are eligible for debt relief under the HIPC (highly-indebted poor countries initiative) and the 18 who have reached completion point in bold: Benin, Bolivia, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

 

The 11 countries who theoretically qualify for debt relief but have not been allowed to join so far are: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Comoros, Congo, Liberia, Mynamar, Somalia, Sudan, Togo.

 

Jubilee Debt Campaign argue that the figures show that another 24 countries qualify as needing full debt relief if they are to have the resources necessary to meet the Millennium Development Goals: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Lesotho, Nepal, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

[Camel Mlik]

warya sky do you know how much Somalia is in debt to the worldbank.

[Coloow]

Milk, somalia's debt to the world bank is approximately 3 billion dollars (source:http://www.ieo.org/world-c10-p2.html)

 

But that is small potatoes compared to the debt owned to countries which might be ten times that one!

 

The debt deal issue is by far the greatest PR move of the century after the abolition of slavery!

 

The "poor" countries shouldn't have borrowed the millions of pounds in the first instance because they didn't have the repaying capabilities. It seems that dictators were loaned the money to finance weapons and lifestyles that many africans would never realise. But, since the so called independence, many african countries have been debt trapped ( a slave-master relationship) where the master makes sure investments in the form of loans secures yield.

 

The debt-clearance issue comes at a time when eastern european countries have been provided structural funds and the advantage of selling their products in Europe.

 

What africa needs is

 

1) the right to sell its products to markets in Europe and the US.

2) The abolition of tariffs

3) The abolition of subsidies to western european(american farmers).

4) ZERO dollar/pound/kronor in donor funds. Donor money kills rather than cure. It makes farmers, traders, political officals corrupted and remove incitements.

 

 

I want to explore an issue that is closely related to this one- Where would the money to finance the lifestyles of the president, PM and 275 ministers and infrastructure of somalia come from???????????

[Suldaanka]

Caaqil very well said

 

What Africans really need is something similar to the US Marshal Plan that put Europe back on track economically.

 

Poverty can only be made history if the poor find jobs. Because jobs, they can earn money, and today the world is a cash-based economy, they can access to better health-care, better education and better for whatever money can buy.

 

So, the bottomline is, Africa needs economically targeted development assistant. A system that encourages for Africans to realise their entrepreneurial spirit and hence create jobs for the poor.

 

Writing off the billions of misused and misappropriated money by former dictators will do little to help the poor.

[N.O.R.F]

good news but one can not resist being a little wary of the conditions attached. There will be certain criteria/conditions which these countries will have to meet. these are not being discussed in the media, i have a feeling the debts of these countries will remain.