At Gleneagles, writes Gamal Nkrumah, the drive to contain terror took precedence over the fight against poverty Last week's decision at the G8 Gleneagles summit to write off $40 billion of debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries had been widely trailed. Certainly African countries had anticipated the move, which acted on goodwill gestures undertaken a month ago. Africa was, after all, supposed to take centre stage at this meeting of world's wealthiest nations. But by the closing sessions it was clear to all that the issue of terror had stolen the spotlight following last Thursday's horrific bombings in London. Africa was no longer the focus of the show. Tagging behind British Prime Minister Tony Blair the paparazzi hurriedly left Gleneagles to rush to the scene of the terrorist attacks that brought the heart of the British capital to a standstill. The bombings may well have been planned to coincide with the Gleneagles summit: whether or not this was the case the results were the same -- hopes of dealing with the root causes of poverty were rudely dashed as the fight against terror once again topped the G8 agenda. Fortunately the battle against poverty and underdevelopment in Africa did not disappear from sight. "The terrorist attacks in London must be condemned but it would be unfortunate if they diverted the world's attention from the critical issues of poverty and injustice in Africa at a moment when some progress is being made. Much more remains to be done, and the best way for the G8 to respond to terrorism would be to be much more bold in their commitments to increase aid, cancel debt and provide trade justice," Neil Watkins, national coordinator of the Jubilee Movement for Debt Cancellation told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The G8 agreement on debt falls short of the demands of the Jubilee Movement. The agreement covers the debts of only 14 nations in Africa while the African Union has clearly called for debt cancellation for all of Africa. There are at least 60 nations that require 100 per cent cancellation to meet millennium development goals," Watkins explained. He stressed that debt cancellation cannot be viewed in isolation, away from the tremendous pressure applied by Western governments and financial institutions to force African countries to adopt liberal fiscal and economic policies. "For additional nations to qualify for debt cancellation they will be required to adopt specific economic policies -- including austerity measures, liberalisation and privatisation of basic services -- that have been shown to be devastating to African economies over the past two decades." The London bombings were a poignant reminder, argued African leaders attending the Gleaneagles summit, that terrorism and underdevelopment are intertwined. The consensus among them, though, was that the G8 agenda for Africa was promising. "We are on the right path," said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, current chair of the 53-member African Union. "But we still have a long way to go." Within Africa many felt the Gleneagles summit had been hijacked by the London bombings. "From a South African perspective we feel the blasts are defeating the African agenda," warned South African opposition figure Bantu Holomisa, leader of the United Democratic Party, echoing the feelings of many on the continent. The pledge of a $25 billion increase in aid to Africa by 2010 was greeted by many as too little, too late. "The people have whispered and the G8 has whispered in return," said Kumi Naidoo, chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. External debt owed by developing countries skyrocketed from $100 billion in 1973 to $1.7 trillion in 1999. By 2003 it had reached $2.5 trillion. There are 1.2 billion people around the world who live on less than one dollar a day. Increase that figure to two dollars a day and there are more than three billion people in the developing countries of the South scraping by. The world's wealthiest countries have been talking about increasing aid to 0.7 per cent of their total gross national product (GNP) for the last 30 years and have systematically failed to reach the target. Development assistance currently provided by wealthy countries stands at 0.2 per cent of their total GNP. "While we recognise that the G8 debt deal represents a step forward, and sets a precedent for the G8 recognising the need for 100 per cent debt cancellation, we have the major concerns about a deal that will not end the debt crisis for impoverished countries," Communications and Advocacy Coordinator of Jubilee USA Network Debayani Kar told the Weekly. "The deal does not include all impoverished countries. Some low-income countries that require full cancellation to finance the millennium development goals are not included while heavily indebted and impoverished middle income countries are also ignored in the deal." "Nor does the deal include debts to creditors such as the Inter-American Development Bank and Asian Development Bank. The four Latin American nations included among the 18 nations to receive cancellation -- Bolivia, Guyana, Honduras, and Nicaragua -- for example, will together pay almost $1.4 billion in debt servicing over the next five years to the Inter-American Development Bank," she explained. "The deal comes with harmful economic conditions for any additional countries beyond the 18 to qualify for 100 per cent cancellation. The economic policies mandated by the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative will continue under the G8 debt agreement, including privatisation of government-run services and industries, increased trade liberalisation and budgetary spending restrictions. These policies have not been proven to increase per capita income growth or reduce poverty as documented by both World Bank and civil society economists," Kar noted. African leaders at Gleneagles, all of them democratically elected, pointed to the close correlation between dictatorship, despotism and indebtedness. Civil society groups concurred. African leaders at Gleneagles stressed the connection between African indebtedness and unfair trade practices, especially the subsidies awarded to farmers in rich countries. "We are concerned that more progress was not made on making trade fair given the importance of trade policies to the well-being of African economies. In addition to needing to move forward on eliminating rich countries' agricultural subsidies, African and other developing countries need to be allowed the policy space to determine trade policies that work for the majority of their rural populations," Kar explained. "We reiterate that full debt cancellation should precede increased aid so that new aid does not go towards servicing old debts. And new aid should not come with harmful economic conditions. We were encouraged that [British] Prime Minister Tony Blair asserted in a press conference that new aid would not include demands that water provision be privatised. Many past IMF loans came with this condition and we will monitor the situation to see that harmful conditions are not attached to future loans or grants." While the world's attention was drawn to the tragic events in London some of the world's media networks and press remained focussed on the primary African concerns of debt and development. The French daily Liberation voiced African despondency. "G8 answers are light years away from African hopes," the paper pessimistically summed the situation. "To secure its place in history the G8 must go a lot further and secure real change," read the statement issued by the international anti-global poverty movement Make Poverty History. "For the G8 leaders the cost of making poverty history was too high. Sadly, it is the poor who will pay the price with their lives," warned the Catholic Development Agency.
