Africans doubt Live 8's impact
2005-06-09 13:25
Nairobi - They'll be grooving to Coldplay in London, rapping along with Will Smith in Philly and dancing mbalax with Youssou N'Dour in Paris. But in African cities and villages, they'll be worrying about day-to-day survival — and questioning whether Western extravaganzas like the Live 8 concerts, however well intentioned, can help.
"This is not going to change the price of my rice or fuel," said Maimouna Dialo, a 37-year-old fruit vendor in Conakry, Guinea.
Aid worker Houghton Irungu was less sceptical, saying the celebrity-packed Live 8 concerts planned for July 2 in five Western cities will force leaders of the world's richest countries meeting days later to respond to calls to double aid to Africa, cancel its crippling debts and help its people trade their way out of poverty.
More than half of Africa's 870 millions people who live on less than $1 a day. Africa needs urgent help for its 12 million children who are orphaned by HIV/Aids. About 30% of children across the continent are not in school. Debt cancellation and more aid would enable governments to use the extra funds on basic social services and on children, he said.
Putting pressure on world leaders
The concerts in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Berlin and Rome and a so-called Long Walk to Justice to follow were organised by musician Bob Geldof of Live Aid fame. Two decades after Live Aid, Geldof sat on a blue-ribbon, international commission chaired by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that proposed a series of fixes for Africa the G8 has been pressed to adopt.
Geldof has urged hundreds of thousands of people to travel to Scotland, venue of the G8 summit, after the shows to press world leaders to endorse the commission for Africa programmes. The commission for Africa has proposed erasing debt and trade barriers, doubling the West's aid to Africa, and encouraging African government's to be more democratic.
"People can relate more easily to the messages" spread by music, said N'Dour, the Senegalese world music superstar who popularised the hard-drumming, infectious mbalax style and who will perform at the Paris Live 8. "The message therefore spreads quickly."
Big stars to perform
Other performers include Madonna, 50 Cent, Paul McCartney, U2, Bon Jovi, Brian Wilson, Crosby Stills & Nash, Sting, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z.
"It is estimated between two tot here billion people will watch the concerts, and with that kind of pressure it would be suicidal for the personal legacy as leaders of rich countries to ignore calls that emerge from their own political constituencies in G8 countries and from Africa," said Irungu, a Kenyan who advises the British aid and development group Oxfam.
For most Africans, though, the Live 8 concerts are a preoccupation of the West. They have had minimum publicity in most of Africa, including in South Africa, whose President Thabo Mbeki will attend the G8 summit.
- AP