What is needed… A Big Push!

So far we have seen how we want the G8 to give more aid , and better aid. We want to cancel the debt of poor countries. And we want to a level playing field for poor countries to reap the benefits of trade.

The Commission for Africa  sees aid, debt and trade as essential ingredients to the solution but that to really make a lasting and significant difference they must all happen together. We need a 'Big Push' to get behind African leadership. And the Big Push will only work if that African leadership delivers more accountable and transparent systems of government. It is a comprehensive package of actions and all the parts are crucial.

What is so exciting about Gleneagles is that it committed the leaders of the Group of Eight, as well as key nations in Africa and across the world to this comprehensive approach.

Giving more aid can make a big difference. But only if it is high quality aid. Only if poor countries no longer pay more in debt repayments than they receive in aid. Only if they can compete fairly in the open market.

Opening the markets of rich countries to the developing world, even with an end to all subsidies, will have only a limited impact on poor people in Africa unless they are able to trade. At the moment Africa can't take advantage of better trading opportunities. Additional high quality aid will ensure they have the infrastructure and the healthy, educated population needed for economic growth, to compete and to succeed.

And still more is needed - we need to work together to make Africa a safer, more peaceful continent. Africa must continue its fight against corruption at every level. And Africa must lead.

Bold, comprehensive action on a scale needed to meet the challenges can only be done through a new kind of partnership. In the past, contractual and conditional approaches were tried, and they failed. A new kind of development is needed, based on mutual respect and solidarity, and rooted in a sound analysis of what actually works. Only then can we build a just world of which Africa is an integral part.

After Live8, the Edinburgh March, and the Gleneagles Summit the question is - What's next?

Last updated 17 November 2005