Nairobi — The director of the Millennium Project, Prof Jeffery Sachs, has asked Africa to repudiate its $201 billion debt if developed countries fail to cancel it.

Describing the debts as "unaffordable" Prof Sachs, who is also an advisor to the UN said: "If they won't cancel the debts, I would suggest obstruction by yourselves."

Professor Sachs was in Nairobi while on a six nation tour to promote the Millennium Village approach that was successfully piloted in Sauri village in Kenya's Siaya district last year.

The acclaimed economist said his views were backed by studies that have shown that, with the millstone of debt hanging around its neck, it is impossible for Africa to achieve its development goal of halving poverty.

According to him, billions more people could enjoy the fruits of the global economy, and tens of millions of lives could be saved if donors fulfilled their commitments.

"The cost of alleviating extreme poverty is definitely affordable," he said.

Prof Sachs explained that many US citizens overestimate the amount of aid their government spends on poor nations by 30 to 50 times.

"Of the approximately $4 billion the US spends in Africa, less than one penny out of every $100 actually reaches Africans."

The Project, which is based at the Earth Institute, was established in 2002 to create a global plan to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

The MDGs are a set of clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. They were adopted by world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000.

The project is a three-year initiative conceived by the UN to analyse policy options and develop a plan of implementation for achieving the goals.

Prof Sachs also pledged that, in 2006, the Millennium Project would be focusing more on food production to alleviate situations like the drought in Kenya and on making investments in water management, health and other basic infrastructural requirements.

During his tour, Prof Sachs will also hold urban dialogue in a number of cities in each of the six countries. These consultations with a range of government and non-government stakeholders will provide the basis for a Millennium Cities initiative that will complement the Millennium Villages by focusing on urban development challenges.

Prof Sachs, who is the director of the Centre for International Development at Harvard University, will also visit Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal.

Prof Sachs is internationally renowned for his work as economic advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia and Africa, and his work with international agencies on problems of poverty reduction, debt cancellation for poor countries and disease control.

He has been an advisor to the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, the World Health Organisation, and the United Nations Development Programme among others.

During 2000-2001, he was chairman of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health of the World Health Organisation, and from September 1999 through March 2000 he served as a member of the International Financial Institutions Advisory Commission established by the US Congress.

Last September, investigators with a wealth of expertise in diverse disciplines gathered at the New York Academy of Sciences for an update on the UN Millennium Project.

Pedro Sanchez, who organised the event, reported that in a single year Sauri, the first of 12 Millennium Villages, was able to increase its corn production fourfold and to build a health clinic.