Germany rejects African aid bid
2005-06-27 21:58
Berlin - Germany has rejected Britain's call to effectively double aid for some of the world's poorest countries, an adviser to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on the G8 summit said on Monday.
Uschi Eid, who specialises in African affairs at the overseas development ministry, said that doubling development aid, as urged by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "will not solve Africa's problems".
She said that the right institutions and personnel were needed before a dramatic increase in aid would be sensible.
Eid said Africa would be better served if the world's rich nations stuck to the goals of Nepad, an ambitious programme for African development launched in July 2001 to encourage good governance, foreign investment and the investment of African capital in Africa.
"It is not those who promise the most who are the best and most reliable partners," she said.
Eid also urged the European Union to follow through on plans to gradually increase development aid to 0.7% of gross domestic product by 2015 and introduce a small tax on domestic flights within Europe.
As host of the G8 meeting, Blair has put fighting Africa at the top of his agenda.
His proposals will be discussed by the leaders of the world's top industrialised nations at the Scotland summit.
G8 finance ministers agreed this month to a key part of Blair's African initiative - the immediate cancellation of the multilateral debt owed by 18 mostly African nations.