Africa: World Downturn Squeezing Continent

analysis

As the world's economic woes deepen, Africa's leaders are delivering a strong message to the international community that it must help the continent protect the development gains of recent years. Ahead of the April meeting of the Group of 20 (G-20), a high-level consultative body, African leaders met with its host, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in mid-March to tell him that donors must honour their commitments to increase aid, improve trade access and agree to a fairer, more flexible system of managing international financial affairs.

With a global stimulus package on the G-20's agenda, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi appealed to the self-interest of richer countries. He argued that in the long run "the global stimulus impact of every dollar spent in Africa is higher than if it is spent in the US or UK." If the crisis is allowed to worsen, he warned, there could be total chaos in some countries and the cost of the resulting violence "is going to be much higher than the cost of supporting Africa." The World Bank has urged developed countries to devote 0.7 per cent of their stimulus packages to a vulnerability fund for developing countries not able to afford similar stimulus measures.

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