President Thabo Mbeki will meet U2 lead singer Bono and US Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, who are on a joint four-nation Africa tour, on Thursday afternoon at the Union buildings in Pretoria.
Presidential representative Bheki Khumalo said the agenda for the discussion, which would also involve Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, included issues of market access, debt relief, bilateral relations with the US and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad).
The 41-year-old Irish pop icon, whose real name is Paul Hewson, and O’Neill started the tour earlier this week for an on-site look at how the continent’s people are tackling their problems.
They flew into Accra, the coastal capital of Ghana, from eastern Europe late on Monday. South Africa is their next stop after which they will head for Uganda and Ethiopia.
Bono’s goal is to persuade O’Neill that Africa can and does put Western aid to good use.
The idea of a joint trip was hatched a year ago when the two men met in O’Neill’s office. Bono, who has campaigned for years to focus the attention of rich nations on the plight of Africa, had asked for the session with O’Neill, a vocal critic of previous anti-poverty programmes in Africa.
O’Neill finally agreed to meet Bono and later said he was impressed by the Irish singer’s knowledge of Africa’s problems. Bono has campaigned to get the Group of Eight top industrial countries to provide greater debt relief for the world’s poorest countries and now is the founder of Debt, Aid and Trade for Africa.
In an effort to find out what kind of aid really works, O’Neill and Bono are visiting Aids clinics, schools and projects sponsored by the World Bank and other development agencies in Africa. – Sapa