Geldof urges help for Africa
2007-01-01 18:04
Berlin - Irish rocker Bob Geldof has called on German chancellor Angela Merkel to help Africa's poor while her country holds the presidency of the Group of Eight nations in 2007, said a press report on Monday.
"Let us hope and pray that Germany and its chancellor, Mrs Merkel, will at last get politicians to act," Bild newspaper cited Geldof as saying in an advance extract of its Tuesday edition.
Geldof, the mastermind behind the 1985 Live Aid concert and the 2005 Live 8 concerts in aid of Africa, said the continent's problems must be on the agenda when Germany hosts G8 leaders at a summit in the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm in June.
"For them (Africans), there will again be no economic boom, no food, no medicine and no education," he said.
The Live 8 concerts were held just days before the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland at which the group's leaders pledged debt relief for Africa.
Germany has said it wants to set up a G8 programme to reward African nations who fight corruption and promote democracy with greater foreign investment.
- SAPA