Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called on Monday for Western countries to make good on promises of debt relief to poor nations, saying failing to do so would destroy their credibility.
Poor countries, especially in Africa, have long complained that repaying massive debts is draining away funds that could be spent on better roads and schools. Last week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa set 100% debt cancellation as a goal, saying that was one way to help end the poverty, conflict and disease plaguing the world’s poorest continent.
Speaking of the report on Monday in London, Obasanjo cited its promises of debt relief.
He cautioned: ”If all we have is this report and two years from now it is just gathering dust on the shelves of libraries … then it will not be worth the paper on which it is printed and it will completely destroy the credibility” of Western nations.
Among the other recommendations of the 400-page Blair report are calls to double foreign aid to Africa and do away with trade barriers that hurt poor countries.
It also says African leaders must move faster toward democracy, stamp out corruption and take other steps to improve how their countries are run.
Nigeria has long been one of the world’s most notoriously corrupt countries, a land where simple chores, like getting a phone line, usually require numerous bribes.
”I don’t believe there is any government anywhere in the world in the span of five years that has done as much as we have to fight against corruption,” Obasanjo said, citing Nigeria’s new anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws.
Blair has made helping Africa a key priority for Britain’s presidencies of both the powerful Group of Eight wealthiest nations and the European Union this year. – Sapa-AP