No money to the government. Private groups like World Vision, etc. do more good with less money than just handing over money to these governments. Most treat aid as their own personal bank accounts.
I'm glad we shot it down. I'm willing to bet 70% of african aid money ends up lining the pockets of gov't officials. Make it 90% if the UN is involved.
No! Africa is sinking itself further in to disease and poverty by allowing despots to use money designated for capital improvements as their own private slush find to pay for expensive European vacations.
they have every resource they need to be thriving..no handouts
How about reforming some of these money-pit governments so aid gets where it's supposed to go ? Case in point - Zimbabwe, once the jewel of the sub-Sahara but look at it now; or the potential of places like Zaire and Angola. Instead we see Botswana going downhill, ditto Namibia, ditto SA. Mozambique & Zambia seem to be making an effort so all is not lost yet.
Mandela, that old commie, should read the thread on the worthless Kenyan government and its misuse of the AIDS funds the West has sent them. Africans can't manage such things, apparently.
screw Mandela in his sorry arse, let him get $50bn a year from his commie pals
Have I missed something here?
Nelson "Necklace" Mandela (whose past atrocities have been conveniently forgotten) acts as though we owe something to them.
The US has sunk mucho dollars into the African aid programs, not only from our tax coffers, but from the hearts and pocket books of Americans.
I kinda resent this demanding attitude.
There is so much wrong in Africa that a 50 billion dollar a year extortion isn't going to change one bit of it.
It seems like every damn time that the checkbook is opened by all these other countries, the only persons that are capable of signing it are the Americans. Like someone else on this forum once said, when these folks dial 911, the damn phone rings in the USA.
When are some of these other countries gonna get an extension?
I'm sure Bono will be heard from with more of his self righteous demands on Americans?
I have to say, I have never seen anything, ever, to dispute what he says or that indicates any improvement. It's a sad, sad thing.
British East Africa, French West Africa, the Belgian Congo, etc.
By Francis Harris in Washington and Andrew Sparrow
(Filed: 03/06/2005)
The Telegraph (UK)
President George W Bush has rebuffed Gordon Brown's plan to double aid to Africa, days before Tony Blair arrives in Washington to argue its merits.
In a humiliating slap down for one of the Chancellor's pet projects, Mr Bush voiced his administration's dislike of the idea in person for the first time.
"We've made our position pretty clear on that: that it doesn't fit into our budgetary process," he said after a meeting with South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki.
Downing Street yesterday played down Mr Bush's remarks, with officials pointing out that the Government was still in negotiations on the issue that will continue until the G8 summit in Gleneagles next month.
But an official at No 10 added: "You should not be too surprised if not all members of the G8 are signed up to everything we want to do. The Prime Minister has deliberately set the bar high on Africa because he believes that we need to make a really significant move forward to help the continent." Despite this, Mr Blair was very keen to get a "critical mass of support" for the idea.
Mr Blair arrives in Washington next Monday for talks with Mr Bush that will cover the African aid proposals. Mr Brown has invested huge personal political capital in the scheme. Both he and Mr Blair are touting the plan, which would double development aid to African countries by £27.5 billion a year.
America was not consulted on the scheme. But, to assume its share of the burden, it would be expected to raise a total of $12 billion (£6.6 billion) a year at a time of severe budgetary cutbacks.
Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, was asked yesterday why Mr Bush had been so "dismissive" of the British idea. There are "many, many areas where we agree", he replied. But, he added, the president had made plain his own stance on the Africa plan.
The American position is likely to enrage aid campaigners such as Sir Bob Geldof, who has urged a million demonstrators to take to the streets of Edinburgh to demand more aid for the continent before the G8 summit. The pop singer this week warned the G8 leaders to come to Scotland only if they were ready to take real action to help Africa.
The Treasury has been trying to persuade its American counterpart of its plans for the scheme known as the international finance facility, funded through borrowing on the capital markets, for much of the past year.
Mr Brown has also lobbied for the cancellation of £22 billion in debt for the world's poorest countries but has run into American objections. Washington has backed the idea but wants to deduct the sum from future aid budgets. The British want to make the debt write-off a gift. Part of America's irritation with the debate on Africa is the way the rest of the world downplays or ignores its own increases in aid.
But the poor personal relationship between Mr Brown and America's treasury secretary, John Snow, is also to blame for the tension between the two counties. While the Bush administration feels affection for Mr Blair, most notably for his support in Iraq, there are no signs that it feels the same warmth for Mr Brown.
They came out with Plan A last week. Milk the richest countries, the US, Japan, etc..India. The usual America haters. Do more, give more, shut up, sit down, solve the world's problems, don't poke your nose where you're not wanted, etc.. But gimme, gimme, gimme.