By Moyiga Nduru
JOHANNESBURG, Jul 6 2005 (IPS)

The African Union ended its annual summit this week with an appeal for substantially more aid from the West and demands for two permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.

This was despite a statement made at the start of the meeting by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who claimed that African leaders should not “beg” for money from rich nations. The African Union (AU) summit took place in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte.

Gaddafi’s comments received mixed reaction from civil society groups.

“In principle we should work on eliminating reliance on aid from the West. But there are a few countries in Africa that will still rely on support from the West for the foreseeable future,” Edward Oyugi, coordinator of the Nairobi-based Social Development Network, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), told IPS.

“Countries like Burundi and Sudan are trying to reconstruct…economies that have been destroyed by war. They will need donor support.”

Other nations are simply too poor to cope without assistance, Oyugi added: “Sixty percent of Uganda’s budget is dependent on donor support.”

The Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialized nations, currently meeting in the Scottish town of Gleneagles, is considering a British proposal to double aid to Africa to 50 billion dollars, by 2010. Oxfam, an international charity, has thrown its weight behind this measure.

“Every cent of that is money that could…(save) the lives of the world’s poorest people,” Jo Leadbeater, Oxfam’s head of advocacy, said in a statement.

The AU meeting also called for the cancellation of Africa’s entire 350-billion-dollar debt. Last month, the G8 agreed to write off 40 billion dollars owed by 14 African nations.

“We need blanket relief for every African country,” observed Oyugi. “Debt relief will, for example, help Kenya to improve its education system.”

The East African state’s external debt is about 5.4 billion dollars, while its domestic debt is estimated at four billion dollars, according to Oyugi. Nairobi is not amongst the African states that will benefit from the G8’s decision on debt forgiveness.

Funds freed up by debt relief will also enable the continent to tackle one of the most critical problems facing it – the AIDS pandemic.

“Every day, Africa spends 30 million dollars servicing its debt – enough to provide antiretroviral therapy to every African who needs it,” said ActionAid International, a Johannesburg-based NGO, in a report prepared for the G8 summit.

In addition, the two-day AU meeting, which concluded Tuesday, called for fairer terms of trade between Africa and developed countries – a call echoed by others.

“Debt cancellation alone is not enough. The West must open up its market for African goods,” said Pierre Mutema, a Congolese businessman who makes a living out of exporting South African products to his conflict-prone country.

“There are too many regulations and restrictions attached to African goods, which make it impossible to access western markets,” he told IPS. “For example, I cannot export fruits such as mangos to Japan or Canada from Congo, because of stringent customs…requirements.”

“At the same time, the wealthy countries of the West export all sorts of garbage to Africa,” Mutema complained. “This is unfair. Something must be done about it.”

According to the World Bank, Africa’s commerce with the rest of the world currently amounts to less than two percent of global trade.

South African President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian counterpart, Olusegun Obasanjo, are leading African leaders to Gleneagles this week.

While in Scotland, they will press for two permanent seats for Africa on the Security Council. Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya have already expressed interest in taking on these positions, (at present, only Britain, the United States, China, France and Russia have permanent seats).

To avoid open confrontation over this matter, the African Union has deferred the debate about which two countries should represent Africa on the council.

“In principle, it’s a good idea to have two members from Africa on the UN Security Council. But their presence would not add weight to the continent. We will still remain a minority on the council,” said Oyugi.

Britain will be pushing for commitments to Africa at the G8 gathering in Gleneagles. So far, African leaders have rallied behind British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa, which is seeking to ease the continent’s woes.

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