Home » Politics & Society » Canadian Politics » G8 Summit - The Africa Action Plan

G8 Summit - The Africa Action Plan

© Rhonda Parkinson

In the days leading up to the recent Kananaskis Summit, critics feared that a pre-Summit speech on the Middle East by President Bush would push Africa off the Summit agenda. They need not have worried. On the first day of the Summit, leaders announced an agreement to provide up to 1 billion (US) aid to the world’s poorest countries, many of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. This was followed on the second day by discussions on African development which were attended by several African leaders, including the Presidents of Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa, and the Secretary General of the United Nations. The result of these discussions was the Africa Action Plan, which is essentially an endorsement of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

Designed by African leaders, NEPAD is an ambitious document, meant to help African states meet the challenge of achieving economic stability and conquering severe poverty and health issues. Based on the premise that Africa must take responsibility for its own economic development, it calls for Africa to move from a dependent relationship into a partnership with the international community. Furthermore, the architects of NEPAD believe that foreign investment, not western aid, will ultimately have the greatest impact on African development. Accordingly, they agree to create a climate more attractive to foreign investors by following the rule of law and promoting democratic governments that meet the needs of their citizens. Other features of the plan include a peer monitoring process, in which African nations will monitor each other to insure that the goals of NEPAD are being met.

Reaction to NEPAD has been mixed. Supporters argue that a plan conceived by Africans has a greater chance of success than one imposed by the west. However, African academics have complained that citizens were not consulted prior to NEPAD being presented to western leaders – whether through a referendum, a vote by elected representatives in state Parliaments or some other mechanism. Instead, after discussing the plan among themselves, African Presidents met with western leaders and private investors, assuming that support for the plan from the African public would automatically follow.

Meanwhile, western critics point out that the need for unanimous agreement among the G8 leaders led to a watering down of the wording in the Africa Action Plan. It is true that Canada had hoped to get a commitment from other leaders that fifty percent of a previously agreed upon increase in development aid (pledged in March of this year) would go to African countries with corruption free governments. Instead, the final wording merely states that half or more of the development assistance could be directed to African nations that “govern justly, invest in their own people and promote economic freedom.” Furthermore, the United States has been criticized in the past for not doing enough to help reduce poverty in Africa or fight HIV/Aids.