Posted on 04/26/2006 6:46:30 AM PDT by libertarianPA
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Billions of dollars in aid will achieve "zero" in Africa unless governments on the continent are serious about fighting corruption and poverty, Irish rocker and humanitarian Bob Geldof said.
The 54-year-old political activist, who will be performing in Johannesburg and Cape Town this week, said he saw "many, many optimistic signs and just as many crap signs" that African governments were cleaning up their act.
"The rich world can pour endless billions into the continent of Africa but none of this will work unless African governments are serious," Geldof told a news conference in Johannesburg.
"Corruption is a byproduct of poverty. We have corruption in France, Germany and Ireland. ... We are rich enough so that it doesn't kill us.
"In sub-Saharan Africa, it kills people. And it must stop," he said.
Nominated five times for a Nobel peace prize, Geldof singled out Benin, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa as countries that have earned "plus points" for their good governments.
A member of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa, Geldof singled out as progress the Group of Eight's decision to cancel the debt owed by some of the poorest countries and double assistance by 2010.
But he added: "None of this works, none, zero, unless the governments of Africa are equally serious about trying to pull their people out of poverty."
The creator of Live 8, a series of concerts held worldwide last year that raised awareness about Africa's plight, will be performing for the first time in South Africa.
maybe he's seeing how all the money from the recent Live 8 concert has disappeared as usual once it arrives in Africa.
Sirprize, sirprize! Sir Geldof finally gets it!
Tread lightly, Mr. Geldof, lest you be accused of speaking ill of people of colour. And that is "racism", regardless of the validity of the comments.
The least corrupt governments are free, democratic, have western values and Christian - wonder when he will push for that?
He just realized this? Hey Geldof, can we get refunds from all the previous concerts that you held?
lotsa luck
It sounds like he is becoming a bit less likely to continue funding corrupt dictators.
Fortunately, there are still enough liberals left to keep the murderous thugs going.
Geldof has to GO and speak publicly in Africa...see how long it is before he's wearing a burning tire around his neck
Doogle
He needs to credit Bush with that position. Bush is the one who first stepped forward and said African governments need to be held accountable to the money given them.
But of course, the LEFT SCREAMED over that when Bush said it!
Why can't the Africans fix their own POS continent?
Get rid of the leftist/socialist/communist criminal dictator thugs and maybe they will start to make real progress.
I almost hate the word "progress" because it morphs into "progressive" which is a code word for commie thief.
Strange that the headline calls him Irish. You can't be a knight of the realm and use the title Sir unless you are a UK citizen, which is of course what Geldof became many years ago.
I wonder if Mr Geldof can take the next step and admit that Marxism has ruined Africa by taking from the poor and giving to the rich, the opposite of what free markets would do.
He will really upset his light-thinking entertainment industry buddies if he ever dares to admit that truth. We'll see if they are really more important to him than the millions of starving and disease afflicted Africans.
Robert Mugabe, butcher of Zimbabwe, is a Knight Commander of Bath.
He sounds like a freeper.
I don't know about other people here, but I really feel that African poverty is a terrible blight on the world, and it would do us great credit if we could help improve the situation. But the solutions won't come from old strategies like foreign aid and self-flaggelation over "colonialism."
There's not a lot we can do, but we should do what we can. Focusing on corruption is a wonderful start -- we could direct some aid to countries that are serious about this problem, and take it away from countries that aren't.
Robert Mugabe, butcher and marxist-kleptocrat of Zimbabwe, is a Knight Commander of "the Order of the Bath", not of Bath.
I can see the confusion: "Prince of Wales", "Duke of Edinburgh", etc, but not "Knight of Bath". The Order of the Bath is a specialist honour with an entertaining royal provenance - I'm sure Google will have the details.
Hello? He can start right there in Johannesburg with his old buddies the ANC.
Mozambique?
Not dissapeared, just transformed. From cash into Mercedes.
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