Leaders of developing countries converge on Doha to discuss economic development, writes Gamal Nkrumah It is impossible to demonstrate a priori that the international media focus on poverty in Africa is salubrious. But a good test case was when African trade ministers met in Cairo last week at precisely the moment when the Group of Eight (G8), the wealthiest and most highly industrialised nations agreed to write off $55 billion in African debt. This week, the summit of the Group of 77 (G77) and China was convened in Doha on 15-16 June and tackled development themes. The focus once again was the final package for the developing countries at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in December 2005. The G77, somewhat confusingly composed of 132 countries, represents the interests of the developing world at international forums. The first summit of the G77 was held in Havana, Cuba, in April 2000. Any publicity for the cause of African development is most welcome at this particular historical moment. It is true that in the past too much aid money was spread around indiscriminately or wasted. Still, spotlighting African debt cancellation today promises to make the African economy self-sustaining in the not too distant future. Indeed, the world has become increasingly aware that Africa's poverty could pose other problems for the rest of the world. A growing body of opinion in Egypt now stands staunchly for African development. "Africa is at the top of the list of the global development agenda. Many years of distortion in agriculture. The most important goal for us is to shape the global trade in such a way as to allow trade to spearhead African development. We have to be globally integrated as a continent," Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The West has been saying that it is promoting free trade, but in reality it has been protecting its own agricultural sector. Cotton subsidies and quota systems which stopped Africans from utilising to the full their competitive advantage," Minister Rachid said. The largest Third World coalition, the G77 has championed development causes at international forums since its founding in 1964, and on Wednesday in Doha it focussed on African development. Baring a number of notable exceptions, the continent's economy has been a basket-case for decades. The G77 countries are bound by a sense of solidarity and certain sense of ambiguity towards the West, in some instances bordering on outright animosity and resentment of Western, and in particular United States hegemony. The African debt forgiveness deal is a question to test how Afrophile Westerners are. The commanding heights of the African economy are still in foreign hands. African countries are concerned that debt relief could have negative implications on the future of aid flows into the continent. That is not good enough. The African debt is one of the most serious problems facing Africa today. However, the continent's debt crisis is by no means the only issue of concern for the people of Africa. At some level the debt cancellation casts the continent in the opprobrious role of helpless victim. The World Bank and the African Development Bank mainly rely on repayments to fund new lendings. The African countries concerned welcomed the cancellation of IMF and multilateral debts. Indeed, African countries were on the whole satisfied with the agreement reached between the US and Britain for the unprecedented 100 per cent debt cancellation for 18 poor and underdeveloped nations to the International Monetary Fund and other international lenders. The initial hesitation of countries like France, Germany and Japan to approve the G8 debt cancellation deal highlights the fact that one of the key stumbling blocks to a full G8 agreement has been how such a deal would be financed. African countries suggested the possibility of using IMF gold through restitution for financing cancellation. They urged the sale of IMF gold to finance debt cancellation. Indeed, they argued that an IMF report released in March identified mechanisms whereby IMF gold reserves could be sold with no serious impact on world prices. Many African nations are, after all, gold producers. However, as encouraging as the G8 move is, there is a growing concern in Africa that not all impoverished nations are included in the G8 deal. The countries concerned -- 14 in Africa plus Bolivia, Guyana, Honduras and Nicaragua -- are all members of the G77. The 18 Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) made eligible for debt cancellation desperately need this break, but so do other poor countries. Indeed, there are strong reservations in Africa about the use of HIPC Initiative criteria to determine which countries receive debt cancellation. The HIPC initiative requires impoverished developing countries to implement ruthless economic policies that are inevitably detrimental to social welfare and often lead to widespread social unrest and political instability. Indeed, the recent political turmoil in Bolivia, one of the countries eligible for G8 debt cancellation is a poignant case in point.
