Bob Geldof yesterday hailed an agreement by the G7 nations (the G8 nations minus Russia) to cancel the debt of more than 30 poor countries as "a victory for millions". Following the decision at a meeting of G7 finance ministers on Saturday, the Live 8 organiser told reporters: "Tomorrow 280 million Africans will wake up for the first time in their lives without owing you or me a penny from the burden of debt that has crippled them and their countries for so long - money we didn't even know we were owed and never wanted in the first place, and money they could never pay."
The commitment by the G7 ministers is worth a reported $US55 billion and will see the immediate cancellation of the debts of 18 "heavily indebted poor countries", with another 20 countries apparently close to reaching individual deals on debt cancellation, all of which should be achieved in the next few years. The G7 also backed a French-German proposal to raise money for Africa and other poor regions by imposing a levy on air tickets.
Keen to maintain the momentum in the lead up to the Live 8 concerts next month, timed to coincide with the G8 conference in Scotland, Geldof said this weekend's concessions were "just a beginning". Backing that sentiment, Romilly Greenhill of ActionAid told The Observer that while the new deal was "great news for countries that will immediately benefit, it will do little to help millions in at least 40 other countries that also need 100 per cent debt relief".
Meanwhile, some finance experts warned that dropping the debt wasn't a real solution to the problems in most poor countries, while other said they were worried that Live 8's message might be over simplistic. Britain's chief scientist, David King, told reporters: "I don't think that throwing money at the problem is the way forward. [Instead of using aid to solve short-term needs], the focus has to be altered to looking at infrastructure development to improve self-generation of wealth and uplifting of standards".