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Merkel Pledges Billions in Africa Aid

Leaders of the G-8 say they will stick to their Gleneagles pledges of increasing aid to Africa. At the Heiligendamm summit, they also announced a $60 billion plan to fight AIDS and other infectious diseases in Africa.

On Friday morning, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the G-8 member states would stand behind the goals set at Gleneagles in 2005 to reduce poverty and disease in Africa. The chancellor said the countries still supported their vow to increase development aid for Africa by $50 billion a year by 2010.

"We said that on behalf of the countries of the G-8, that we are aware of our obligations and we would like to fulfil the promises that we entered into and we are going to do that," Merkel said.

However, she added that the G-8 states also had expectations of the countries which receive that aid, and that "honest and open" discussions had taken place with African leaders. The G-8 wants to see African leaders fight corruption and increase transparency.

John Kufour, president of Ghana and chairman of the African Union said the Africans also expected the G-8 to fulfil its aid pledges. The African nations, he said, wanted the aid to lead to a "true partnership." African leaders at the summit proposed creating an advisory board with members from Africa and the G-8 that monitor progress on both sides.

$60 Billion to Fight AIDS

G-8 leaders also agreed to a new plan that would see an additional $60 billion (€44 billion) in aid over the next five years to fight infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The United States has said it will provide $30 billion. Summit host Germany will give $4 billion, said Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. It was an uphill battle though, and aid organizations claim that Italy and Canada fought against the increased financial pledges.

Bush announced his plan to contribute $30 billion between 2009 and 2013 in the fight against disease at the end of May. If approved by Congress, it would represent a doubling of the current US budget for fighting the disease. Wieczorek-Zeul also announced Germany's plan to earmark the money shortly before the summit. "The situation (in Africa) is simply so dramatic," she said in Berlin.

Germany's pledge consists of annual foreign aid to Africa of €500 million -- compared to €300 million in 2006 and €400 million this year. Much of the increased funding, Wieczorek-Zeul said, would go towards helping women and girls. Close to two-thirds of all the people living with HIV in the world today are in sub-Saharan Africa. And in Africa, the risk of infection for women between 15 and 25 is three times as great as it is for men.

Leaders from a number of African countries were invited to attend the G-8 summit this year, including South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria, Senegal and Nigeria -- all countries that are part of the the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad). The aim of the initiative is to establish democracy, good governance and sound economic policies.

Kosovo Deadlock

Despite the pledges for Africa, G-8 leaders failed to achieve a breakthrough on another major foreign policy issue at the summit: Kosovo. Russia is opposing Western efforts to adopt a UN resolution that would clear the way for Kosovo to become an independent state. French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy had sought a compromise to delay that vote by six months, but Russia is resisting the terms.

Russia is a strong ally of Serbia and Belgrade has refused proposals that would give Kosovo independence. When asked on Friday if there was still a threat of Russia vetoing any UN Security Council movement on Kosovo, Sarkozy replied: "I think one could say it like that."

dsl/dpa/afp/reuters