Leading the British government in their fight against world poverty

	About DFID
	Millennium Dev't Goals
	Country Profiles
	News & Press
	Publications
	Case Studies
	Procurement
	Consultations
	Research
	Funding Schemes
	Recruitment

Africa - G8 Follow up Questions and Answers

1. What progress on G8 commitments on aid?
The pledges made on additional aid volumes, both by EU Member States and G8 leaders at Gleneagles amount to an overall increase in aid volumes from US$79 billion in 2004 to US$129 billion by 2010.

Half of the extra funds will go to Africa – doubling the amount of aid received in 2004, to reach $50 billion per year by 2010. Donors have agreed that resources should be provided in support of partner countries’ national development strategies.

With an economy roughly the same size as the US, the EU provides twice as much aid – and will provide 3 times as much by 2010. 80% of the additional aid pledged for 2010 will come from the EU. The EU has also set a clear target of 2015 for Member States to reach the UN target to provide 0.7% of income as aid (0.33% for the 10 new Member States).

Other G8 members do not yet have a target date to reach this UN target. An April 2006 report from the European Commission confirmed that the EU is on track to meet its 2002 pledge for the region as a whole to provide 0.39% of its income as aid this year.

The UK has set a clear timetable to reach the UN’s target to provide 0.7% of national income as aid by 2013 – 2 years ahead of the EU target of 2015. Total UK aid has increased from £2.1bn in 1997 to £5.9bn in 2005 and we're on track to reach nearly £6.5bn a year by 2007.

Oxfam released a report on overseas aid in June 2006 to which DFID responded. More information on this can be found at

Also on this page:

Debt | Nigeria's debt | Trade | Corruption | Arms

2. What were the details of the multilateral debt deal and when will it be implemented?

The debt deal proposed at the G8 was endorsed at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in September 2005. This will see 100% multilateral debt relief for up to 43 countries – most of which are in Africa – on completion of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) process. This new Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) is worth around US$50 billion.

Since Gleneagles, the IMF has implemented the MDRI for 20 countries, 14 in Africa. The World Bank’s International Development Association and the African Development Fund should implement the MDRI shortly.

3. What is happening about Nigeria's debt? Should it be returned?

In October 2005, the Paris Club (group of government creditors) agreed the largest ever debt deal for a single African country, resolving 100% of Nigeria's debt to Paris Club creditors. Overall, creditors wrote off about 60% of the value of outstanding debts (US $18 billion).

In return, Nigeria used part of its oil windfall to buy back the remaining debt that it owed to the creditors. Nigeria will put the savings of around $1 billion per year from this debt relief into a fund to be used for poverty reduction programmes, including employing an extra 120,000 teachers and putting 3.5 million children into school.

The Nigerian Government lobbied strongly for this deal, which is based on and in support of Nigeria’s own economic reforms and development strategy. At the request of the Nigerian Government, the UK worked hard to make it happen. Both the President of Nigeria and the Nigerian Finance Minister have publicly welcomed the deal.

We recognise that Nigeria still has immense development needs, so DFID is doubling its assistance to Nigeria to £100 million in 2007/8 from £45 million in 2004/5. DFID’s development spending in Africa is £1 billon per year.

The UK wrote off £2.8 billon as part of the Nigeria debt deal. We received a total of £1.7 billon in payments. It would be impossible to return the payments the UK received as DFID would have to meet the costs, and this would mean reallocating a considerable part of our budget, at the expense of other poor countries.

4. What progress was made at the trade conference in Hong Kong?

In November Hilary Benn said DFID would provide £100 million pounds a year by 2010 to help poor countries boost their exports to the rest of the world. Read our guide to why trade really matters in the fight against poverty

By increasing "aid for trade", the UK hopes to help poorer countries seize the opportunities presented by more open markets. The funding will help countries in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere address major trading needs including customs reform to speed up the time it takes to get their goods to market, or helping them meet EU health and safety standards.

Support for "aid for trade" has already produced benefits in Mozambique where DFID backed customs reforms increased revenues from $70 million to $250 million a year. The UK government’s announcement is aimed at extending these benefits to other poor countries.

At the international trade conference in Hong Kong the UK and the EU put a great deal of emphasis on a development package to complement progress on market opening. Although the outcome of the World Trade Organisation meeting in December 2005 was disappointing, achievements in Hong Kong included:

All 150 member countries agreeing to end all forms of agricultural export support by 2013
All developed countries will now grant duty and quota-free market access for at least 97 per cent of tariff lines on products originating from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by 2008
Export subsidies on cotton will be eliminated in 2006 and all LDC cotton exports will be granted duty and quota-free market access as soon as the Doha round is concluded
A Task Force will provide recommendations by July 2006 on how to make Aid for Trade most effective.

This is not the end of the process, we are committed to achieving a successful outcome to the Doha trade Round at the end of the year.

5. What is being done to fight corruption?

Corruption hits poor people hardest: tackling corruption is an essential part of our poverty reduction objectives. Corruption is stifled when states acquire a sufficient degree of capability, responsiveness, and accountability, the three key elements of good political governance. Donors can help make this happen.

The Commission for Africa Report stressed the importance of tackling corruption, and that action is needed both by Africa and by developed countries.

At Gleneagles, the G8 agreements included helping Africa to fight corruption, for example through increasing support for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which encourages companies and governments and to ‘publish what you pay / publish what you receive’ and to Provide financial resources for the African Union and the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to support their efforts to improve governance and accountability across the continent, both nationally and regionally.

In the UK the Government has strengthened laws against money laundering and corruption in international business in recent years. Also ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption in February 2006. This is a global consensus on what needs to be done, and it challenges developing and developed countries alike.

6. What is the government doing to help control the flow of arms?

The UK and other donors support individual countries to collect and destroy small arms and light weapons, for example the UK Global Conflict Prevention Pool recently funded destruction of over 3,300 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition in Mozambique.

We also support the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons. At the Review Conference (26 June to 7 July 2006), we want to secure a commitment to develop global guidelines on small arms transfer controls. Ultimately, we need an International Arms Trade Treaty.

The EU and Commonwealth gave their backing to this last year. We aim to secure a UN resolution to begin work on a Treaty this Autumn.

Last updated: 27 April 2007