‘Actions on trade, not aid, the key’

Andrew Quinn

"Intentions and actualisation are not the same thing," said Kenyan Finance Minister David Mwiraria. "We would like to see a situation where there is money now."

The G8announced members would more than double aid to Africa by 2010 and promised to work to end the farm export subsidies that undercut Africa's own agricultural products.

There was an agreement to boost investment in health and education, and to take action to combat HIV/Aids, malaria, TB "and other killer diseases".

The G8 also agreed that all of the debts owed by eligible countries to international finance institutions should be cancelled.

The pledge capped a dramatic month of global goodwill for Africa marked by the worldwide Live 8 rock concertsCritics said the promise of new help remained vague, with the aid increase years away and no deadline for the end to agricultural export subsidies.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the chairman of the African Union, said he was satisfied with the Gleneagles deal for Africa, whose 800 million people are still plagued by war, disease and poverty.

He said the continent's problems were being addressed "realistically and acceptably".

But many African officials, activists and aid workers said the proposals did not go far enough.

"What we need most is fair trade because our farmers cannot compete with farmers in the West. The whole issue of trade hinges on farm subsidies and the quicker this is resolved the better," said Zambian Deputy Finance Minister Felix Mutati.

Africa's leaders have sought to persuade Western nations the continent is on the path to democracy and ending war, despotism and corruption all conditions for more assistance.

But corruption is still rampant in many countries, and wars have killed millions and left many more displaced. "It's not the quantity of aid that is important what counts is how it is used. Will it be used to feed people or to line the pockets of civil servants?" said South African political analyst Moletsi Mbeki, whose brother South African President Thabo Mbeki has been a key proponent of the G8 assistance plan.