Italy and France draw fire for aid shortfall

The Italian and French governments have been condemned for failing to meet their commitments to increase aid to sub-Saharan Africa in a research report published today. The report, published by ONE, the campaign and advocacy group, assesses the progress of the Group of Seven countries in meeting their targets to increase aid to Africa made at the Gleneagles summit four years ago. One of the group's main advisers is Bob Geldof. While five other G7 members have beaten or are striving to meet targets, France's delivery is described as "disappointing" and Italy's performance as an "utter failure". In 2005 the G7 promised to increase aid to sub-Saharan Africa by a total of $21.5bn (£13bn, €15bn) by 2010. But by the end of 2008 only $7bn had been added. France had committed itself to increasing its contribution from $3.1bn in 2004 to $8.4bn by the next year; Italy from $1.45bn to $5.08bn. The report is especially scathing of Italy, the current chair of the Group of Eight, which has delivered only about 3 per cent of the increase it had promised in 2005. Consultations with the Italian government reveal that it is planning to cut, not increase, assistance in the future, according to the report. "Based on its performance against the Gleneagles commitments, it has no credibility to host discussions of such global importance," it says. The record of governments led by Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, has been particularly poor, said Jamie Drummond, a founder of ONE and the executive director of the organisation. Mr Berlusconi was one of the signatories to the Glen-eagles agreement but left office between May 2006 and May 2008. "[Mr] Berlusconi needs to be censured by his peers," he said. French overseas development assistance to subSaharan Africa has increased slightly since 2004 but declined between 2007 and 2008, and further cuts are planned this year, said the report. That performance shows that for the first time, the country is a smaller donor to Africa than is Germany. "Given the country's historical and cultural links to the region this is extraordinary," said Mr Drummond. Lower-than-expected inflows of aid have hit Africa hard at a time when private credit markets are largely closed to the region. Revenues from commodity exports and the remittances sent home by migrant workers are also under pressure as a result of the global slowdown.

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