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Africa: OIC Cancels Debt of Poor Countries
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
13 March 2008
Posted to the web 13 March 2008
Dakar
The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) adopted in Dakar on Wednesday a resolution to cancel the debt of poor countries as part of its efforts to relieve poverty and promote cooperation based on greater solidarity.
This measure was first adopted by the meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers to prepare the summit of the heads of state and government that opened in the Senegalese capital on Wednesday. The resolution was passed despite the opposition of some the members who suggested a "reduction" rather than a "cancellation" of the debt.
Describing the act as "significant and symbolic", Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane said that this is part of the economic partnerships that member countries of the Islamic Community are striving to build and develop.
In the same spirit, the meeting called for the establishment of an Islamic Solidarity Fund, to support actions to fight against poverty, with Africa at the centre of its attention.
On this summit's agenda, the Islamic Development Bank expects to win the necessary support to pursue two main specific objectives, as named by Amadou Boubakar Cisse, the bank's operations deputy chairperson.
'What we have on the agenda is to mobilize financial resources for the Solidarity Fund and the Fight Against Poverty, and approval of a 12 billion US dollar special five-year programme for Africa", said Cisse.
The Islamic Development Bank invested four billion US dollars in sub-Saharan Africa in the last five years, including in health, education, micro-finances, construction and infrastructures, and humanitarian assistance.
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The Solidarity Fund has been operational since mid-2007, in the context of the drive for African countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The fund is laying its stress on primary education (particularly for girls), and the fight against AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
The Bank's managers hope that they will leave the Dakar summit, with an increased ability to make loans available for productive projects and for the development of small and medium-sized companies.
The Islamic Development Bank has been operating since 1973, when the OIC's Finance Ministers met in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, and approved a with the goal of improving the economic and social development and progress of the member states.
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