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DEVELOPMENT: Ask What Britain Can Do for Africa
By Sanjay Suri
LONDON, Mar 16 (IPS) - The Commission for Africa report outlines at
length what the world must do for Africa and Africa for itself. The
report also sets out what Britain could be doing for Africa, and is not.
That undermines in considerable measure the British government's call for
new international action over Africa. Britain has made such international
effort the centrepiece of its agenda as head of G8 this year, and plans
to do so under its European Union presidency in the second half of this
year.
But Britain does not have to wait for action from the European Union (EU)
and G8 (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan
and Russia), campaigners say.
''On aid matters Britain can work entirely independently of others,''
John Hilary, director of campaigns and policy at the independent group
War on Want told IPS. Under new aid policy Britain will not impose
conditions on the economic policy of a receiving country. But under
British proposals for an International Finance Facility for more and
quicker aid, it would still be making aid conditional, Hilary said.
''Trade is a difficult matter because Britain works through the EU,'' he
said. ''But Britain is a powerful voice within the EU. So if Britain
steps back (from unfair trade policies), it would have a lot of weight.
Britain could take a strong lead in this.''
The Commission has said that ''forcing poor countries to liberalise
through trade agreements is the wrong approach to achieving growth and
poverty reduction in Africa, and elsewhere.'' It says the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) is not an appropriate mechanism for managing services
liberalisation in Africa.
''Yet the UK government continues to press for trade liberalisation in
developing countries for the benefit of its own multinational
corporations, both in the ongoing GATS negotiations at the WTO and
through the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) currently being
negotiated with African, Caribbean and Pacific states,'' War on Want says
in a statement.
Britain has been going the opposite way from reforms recommended by the
Commission for Africa on some fronts, Hilary says. The commission has
called for early steps to tackle corruption, in which many Western
countries are complicit. ''Yet, the Export Credit Guarantee department
rules on bribery were watered down just three months ago as a result of
pressure from companies,'' he told IPS.
Britain has sought a voluntary and not a binding code for the regulation
of corporations, Hilary said. ''That's ridiculous, because a voluntary
code has been shown not to work.''
The Commission for Africa, he said in an earlier statement, ''has slammed
the UK government's harmful policies towards some of the world's poorest
countries. The UK's policies of trade liberalisation and privatisation
are revealed as part of the problem facing Africa, while reluctance to
crack down on corporate corruption is highlighted as another key failing.
Tony Blair must now respond with a thorough overhaul of UK policies
towards Africa across the full range of issues identified by the
Commission.''
War on Want points to several areas where the Commission for Africa has
challenged British government policies.
The Commission has said that relying on the private sector to provide
infrastructure services in Africa such as water, transport and
agricultural markets has been a ''serious policy mistake, driven by the
international community that undermined growth prospects and generated a
substantial backlog of investment.''
But the British government has ''championed the role of the private
sector in delivering infrastructure services in Africa, setting up the
Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and other private sector financing
mechanisms, as well as further privatisation initiatives through the
Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility and through direct
contracts with privatisation consultants,'' War on Want says.
On the arms trade the Commission notes that ''violent conflict has killed
and displaced more people in Africa than in any other continent in recent
decades'', and says the developed world's continuing participation in the
arms trade is a contributing factor. ''Yet while the Commission calls for
more effective action to counter arms proliferation, the UK continues to
export arms and arms components to some of the poorest countries in
Africa,'' War on Want says.
(END/2005)
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