Word: african
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...Cuts in aid budgets by the industrialized nations could prove disastrous for some African countries, according to the Africa Progress Panel, a group led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "The financial meltdown that evolved into an economic recession has now become a development crisis," warns the panel's report, released on Wednesday. "Combined with the food crisis, the volatility in fuel costs and climate change, it threatens to reverse Africa's recent progress...
...Booming prices for oil, copper, gold and other commodities over the past decade have produced annual GDP growth rates as high as 6% in some African countries. But the International Monetary Fund predicts continent-wide economic growth of only about 1.7% this year - compared with last year's growth estimate of about 5.5%. (See pictures of scared traders...
...Despite Africa's being a major focus of G-8, the group includes no African leaders - nor China, whose investment in African infrastructure exceeds that of all the G-8 countries combined. Singer Bob Geldof urged on Thursday that the discussion be widened, warning that unless more countries are at the table in international decision-making, "our system will fail again." (See pictures of China doing business in Africa...
...some African economists and political leaders, the aid shortfall isn't necessarily the most critical problem. A fierce debate is playing out among aid and government officials about whether money for Africa is even worth it - ignited largely by the best-selling book Dead Aid, written by the Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, who argues that $1 trillion in Western aid during the past 50 years has left the continent more poor and dependent. Her sentiments were echoed by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who wrote in the Financial Times last month that "as long as poor nations are focused on receiving...
...part, Berlusconi said after a meeting Wednesday in Rome with Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, that African poverty was "a big problem that requires a big decisive response from all those who are fortunate enough to be well-off." Berlusconi reportedly said he believed some African leaders had funneled aid funds to their personal Swiss bank accounts...