Newsnig8t

I meet the African bloggers

I've just been to a seminar with five African journalists who have been brought to the UK by NGO Panos to cover the G8. Some of them are accredited, others will, like me be outside the fence. We had a fascinating discussion about how developed world hacks see Africa - and they did not completely trash my report on sugar, which we watched together. Big day for aid as Bush is set to announce a fairly big hike in aid. I am scurrying around as usual. Watch tonight if you are remotely interested in the outcome at GlenE....

Snap: Nigeria debt deal announced. 67% write off (plus)

The Paris Club website is carrying a short statement confirming that a deal has been done this morning on Nigeria's external debt of $36bn. Newsnig8t can exclusively reveal the details:

• 6bn arrears will be paid off
• A write off of 67% under "Naples Terms" has been agreed
• the rest will be bought back at a discount by the Nigerian government using oil revenues.

Within three years, a source close to the talks said, 100% Nigeria's debt will be gone.

In return Abuja is setting up several internal mechanisms to track and trace how the money is spent. There will be a virtual poverty fund focused on meeting the MDGs with the aim of 20,000 teachers and an extra 3.5m children into schools within three years. There will be enhanced surveillance by the IMF. Oxfam and Action Aid will sit on a steering committee to spend the fund. More follows. Watch this space.

Laissez faire - alla sinistra?

A lively debate between left wing campaigners and economists about free trade has been sparked by the appearance on this blog of Alex Singleton - a right wing proponent of it. Jump into Tim Worstall's blog, or Owen's or wait til Saturday when I get to turn on the comments option here (Typepad permitting).

Rumble in the jungle will echo in the Glen...(and the San Siro)

The Zapatista rebel movement in Chiapas, Mexico has today issued a major position document, rethinking its political strategy. Why does this matter at Gleneagles? Because the EZLN, to give it its true title, was the major influence on anarchists and eco-activists who went on to form People's Global Action, which has been the most influential force in the formation of the anti-globalisation movement. It's a major political event for Mexico. But it is also bound to echo through the movement converging on Edinburgh which is having its own internal debate about whether it's too close to the mainstream political process. Oh, and stand by for the footy match of the century...

"Memory is the pillar of justice" - Berenice Celeyta

The guest blogs are now coming in fast. I asked Berenice Celeyta (pictured) to write one after I found out she was coming to Edinburgh to speak at the main MPH rally on Saturday 2 July. She's one of the leaders of a trade union in Colombia called SINTRAEMCALI, which has opposed privatisation. In Colombia she has 24-hour-a-day bodyguards. Now while a lot of the muscle on show in the VIP tent in Edinburgh will be there to guard the celebs from their fans, Berenice's bodyguards are there to stop her being assassinated. You can read the background to Berenice's situation here. She's titled her contribution to Newsnig8t: "Another world is possible where human beings can enjoy the egalitarian dignity fundamental to our being".

It's hard hitting so I am keen to hear and post responses...

"A Year of Optimism" - Wiseman Nkuhlu

Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu (pictured) has made the journey from Robben Island prison to the boardrooms of major African and global companies. He's the head of the Nepad executive and is due in London next week for a business summit on Africa called Bending the Arc, which is looking at what the private sector can do to help attain the Millennium Development Goals. He sent me this contribution for the blog:

"2005 presents an historic opportunity for Africa. The continent’s development is now at the centre stage of the world agenda and the potential for lasting change has never been greater. Of course, this is not the first time that there has been optimism around Africa’s development...

Nigeria deal now looks dodgy

The Paris Club meeting to decide on Nigeria's plea for $36bn debt relief is still in session and it may go on until Friday. As the Guardian reported this morning, some non-G8 countries are blocking the debt buy-back proposal. The reason the Nigerian deal is important is that it's the biggest of Africa's bilateral debtors - and only the governments that lent the money (for steel mills that never rolled a single bar of steel etc) can do the deal. A thoughtful contribution on all this came from the Brookings Institution  earlier this week. All my contacts involved in this are getting antsy because there is a genuine chance of doing the biggest ever African debt write off, bolstering one of the G7's most favoured African leaders: equally there is a chance that Obasanjo, the president of the African Union as well as Nigeria, will emerge from this week totally frustrated with his inability to get a deal on debt. Which will not make great mood music for Gleneagles, nor for his attempt to hold together a country where democracy is barely established, and continuially under threat.

Spoof of the day...

A group calling itself Make Poverty Worse has called a counter-demonstration on 2 July. Their website warns:

"On the streets WE will square up to those marching woollie liberals, making sure our opinions overshadow theirs, while encouraging our friends in government and law enforcement to nip their desires for a better world in the bud."

I am not sure whether this is a deftly executed anti-globalisation spoof or an actual reality TV series being planned for Channel Four.

"An extractive economic relationship" - Kenya's trade minister

Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, the Kenyan trade minister, has been on the road for 20 days in the run-up to the G8. I caught up with him in London today – to talk about an issue African countries are hopping mad about: Economic Partnership Agreements. The duffer’s guide is this: originally the EU signed a treaty with "Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific" that gave it access to the EU market without having to open up its markets (the Lome Conventions). Then came EPAs - under the Cotonou Treaty of 2000 - which began to stipulate market opening in return. The African countries say this is tougher than what is required under the WTO rules. To make it even more complicated, the UK government does not really agree with the EU's tough approach to EPAs and is under pressure to toughen its stance from Brussels – but Blair is tied to a negotiating stance signed in 2002, when the EU Commission was configured differently. Confused? I will provide a slew of links when there is time. Start here (PDF). Anyway, the Africans are fed up with EPAs. Read on…

A free-market view on the sugar row

I think, and shoot me down in flames if I am wrong, British conservatism is being a bit less coherent and up-front about the G8 agenda than its counterpart in the USA - so I asked Alex Singleton (pictured) to pen me a response to the report on the EU sugar subsidy...