After weeks of wrangling over a global Africa aid policy, United States President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday expressed optimism that a programme to eliminate 100% of Africa’s debt could be finalised by July’s G8 summit.
The two men met at the White House to work on the agenda for the G8 meeting of the wealthiest industrial countries in Gleneagles, Scotland. In his capacity as president of the summit and host, Blair is on a whirlwind global tour to boost agreements on Africa aid and reduce global warming.
Blair, in trouble at home over his support of Bush on Iraq, won recent British elections, and, if Tuesday’s news conference was any measure, has successfully steered the media’s focus away from Baghdad and toward Africa.
The G8 comprises the US, Britain, France, Canada, Italy, Germany, Japan, and the Russian federation.
Bush has flat-out rejected Blair’s proposal to double current Africa aid by wealthy countries, to $50bn over the next three years, saying last week it “doesn’t fit our budgetary process".
More: news24.com
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