Oil-rich Gulf urged to help Africa

2005-06-05 18:25

London - British finance minister Gordon Brown on Sunday urged rich, oil-producing countries in the Gulf, which have profited from a recent spike in oil prices, to join a global push to lift Africa out of poverty.

Speaking ahead of a crucial week of negotiations for Prime Minister Tony Blair who is due to meet US President George W Bush in Washington on Tuesday as part of a bid to drum up support for a plan to help Africa at a Group of Eight (G8) summit in Scotland next month, Brown pressed the need for urgent action.

"I would like to see the oil-producing states, the countries that have done well out of the rise in oil prices, being willing to make a contribution... debt relief and to international aid," he told GMTV.

"I've been in touch with the countries concerned asking them to make their contribution too."

Brown has helped to spearhead a plan to reduce debt, double aid and ensure fairer trade in Africa, which Blair is due to take to Bush who has so far voiced concerns about the scheme.

Britain hopes to raise $100bn through a so-called international finance facility dreamt up by Brown, the Observer newspaper wrote on Sunday.

Contributions from European Union countries are forecast to generate $80bn, with the remainder being covered by the United States. But Bush's reluctance has left a $20bn aid-gap, which oil-producing countries in the Gulf could help fill, the paper reported.

"Globally, tackling the world's deadliest diseases and halving world poverty will require the overall doubling of aid recommended by the Commission for Africa," Brown said in an article for the Observer, referring to a commission formed by Blair last year to help the continent.

Combat illness

"Which is why additional resources need to be agreed at Gleneagles (the venue for the G8 summit) and why it is critical that all wealthy countries, including the richer oil-producing states, join in," Brown wrote.

Brown emphasised the need to combat illnesses such as Aids, malaria and turberculosis that claim six million lives a year.

Brown said it was vital to find an anti-malaria preventative vaccine, fund the large-scale production of such a medicine and ensure it is available at an affordable price.

Turning to HIV/Aids - which has infected 65 million people worldwide and killed 25 million - Brown voiced the importance of treatment and care.

"Years from now, people will ask of Aids and Africa: 'How could the world have known and failed to act'," the minister wrote in the Observer.

Brown explained that his financing facility would enable the international community to frontload resources to enable a critical mass to be deployed as investment now when it will have the most impact.

With Blair off to Washington and a meeting of finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7 - the G8 minus Russia) industrialised powers scheduled in London on Friday, this week looks set to be crunch time for Blair's relief plans.

"All the detail of what we can agree at Gleneagles will be thrashed out over the next few days," Brown told GMTV.

- AFP