In an effort to deal with the
debilitating problem of debt and debt interests, the finance
ministers and central bankers from 17 highly indebted
African nations met for a two-day conference to discuss debt
rescheduling and relief. The meeting ended Tuesday August
31. Many of the African representatives, including meeting
chairman and Botswana President Festus Mogae, are calling
for the complete cancellation of the $350 billion debt. Donors and representatives of multinational lending
agencies were expected to underline the importance of good
governance and better fiscal and monetary policies for
countries seeking relief from the crushing debt burden.
Mogae said the crushing debt burden was an impediment to
economic growth. Mogae said the current conditions set by
donors do not take into consideration the turbulent
situation in African as a result of poor governance and
internal conflicts. "I hope our creditors will realise that the current
external debt arrangements are defective,'' he said, adding
that the time period alloted for debt repayment is to short.
The Nairobi meeting is a follow-up to the three-day Second
Tokyo International Conference on African Development last
October. The Tokyo conference, attended by delegates from 82
nations and 40 organisations, resolved to try to halve the
number of Africans living in poverty by 2015 through
increased foreign investment, better education and
government incentives. At least 80 people are taking part in
the meeting sponsored by the UN Development Programme, the
government of Japan and the Central Bank of Kenya. In addition to Kenya and Botswana, other African nations
represented are Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Tunisia, Burkina
Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda,
Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa. The two-day Nairobi conference is a follow-up to talks
held in Tokyo last October which resolved to try to halve
the number of Africans living in poverty by 2015. It is also
being attended by finance ministers, central bank governors
and representatives from top donors such as Japan, France
and Britain as well as from the International Monetary Fund,
the World Bank and the UNDP. It estimates that loan
repayments have far exceeded annual health spending in 29
countries, including 23 in sub-Saharan Africa. One proposal to be discussed in Nairobi is that debts
would be cancelled in return for guarantees that the money
saved in repayments would be spent on social programmes such
as education, health and communications infrastructure.
Representatives of donor countries and international
agencies such as the IMF are expected to underline the need
for transparency and good governance for countries seeking
relief from the burdens of their huge debts.
AP/USAfricaonline/BBC
BUSINESS
Finance ministers, central bankers
discuss
Africa's debt
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