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I'm Bob Cline with the VOA Special English Development report.
There is praise mixed with criticism for the Africa aid plan announced by leaders from the Group of Eight. The announcement came July eighth at the end of their meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland. The eight nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. The G8 leaders agree to increase their yearly development aid to 50,000 million dollars within five years. The current level is 25,000 million. The leaders also agree to cancel 40,000 million dollars in debt owed by 18 nations, mostly in Africa.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the G8 president this year. As he announced the plan, he noted: "We speak today in a shadow of terrorism. Bombs exploded on three London trains and a bus on July seventh, opening day of the meeting. " Mister Blair described the aid measures as a strong first step. "It isn't the end of poverty in Africa," he said. "But it is the hope that it can be ended."
Many development experts though say the aid falls short. The group Action Aid estimates the less than half of the additional money promised to Africa is truly new. It says most is simply a reorganization of existing aid budgets. Action Aid also says more than 40 other poor nations should have debts canceled, too. At the same time, experts say many countries lack measures to make sure aid money is not stolen and money can come too quickly.
Robert Bunyi is Africa economist for Standard Bank. He says, "Large amounts of aid can lead to stronger currency values which make countries less appealing to foreign investors." "Still," he says, "Any increase in aid is going to be good for Africa." As head of the G8, Tony Blair has promised to make the fight against poverty, one of his main concerns. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals aim to cut world poverty in half by 2015. The United Nations wants rich countries to agree to spend seven-tenth of one percent of their national earnings on aid. The European Union has promised to reach that level by 2015. But other nations such as the United States, Canada and Japan have not.
Prime Minister Blair noted: "The limits of measures agreed to in Scotland. It isn't all everyone wanted." He said, "But it is a progress."
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Our reports are on the Web at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Cline. | 
