The government of Canada has cancelled $21-million in debt owed to Canada by Madagascar under the Canadian Debt Initiative (CDI).
Canada has also announced $42-million in increased funding to support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), according to Paul Boothe, the G8 personal representative for Canada, on behalf of Canadian Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale.
Unveiling the two initiatives on Monday at the meeting of the Commission for Africa and 18 African finance ministers in Cape Town, Boothe said: “Today’s announcement is a continuing example of the leadership role Canada has taken in easing the debt burden facing poor countries — and eliminating this burden altogether.
“African nations that have shown real progress in improving government accountability and strengthening their economies must be allowed the opportunity to invest in their citizens, rather than be compelled to divert their financial resources to interest payments.”
Madagascar is the fourth African nation whose Canadian debts have been forgiven in the past four months through the CDI, joining Senegal, Ghana and Ethiopia.
In all, 13 countries have had their debt payments to Canada frozen, and since December 2000, the Canadian debt held by eight of these nations has been cancelled. More than $1,1-billion in debt will be forgiven through the CDI.
At the same time, Boothe said, Canada will be giving $42-million in funding to support the GPEI, a project aimed at eliminating polio by the end of 2005.
Launched in 1988, the GPEI is the largest public-health initiative in history, a partnership spearheaded by the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund, Rotary International and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We need to finish the job on polio eradication, a disease that hits Africa harder than any continent,” said Boothe on behalf of Goodale. “Canada is stepping in to fund the immediate shortfall faced by the GPEI.”
Goodale is a member of the Commission for Africa and serves on its working group on the African economy, which is meeting on Monday to finalise a report on economic policy recommendations to be presented to the G8 leaders at their summit in Scotland in July. — I-Net Bridge