Newsnig8t

Aid - now we are down to deep detail

Today the mainstream NGOs have been working overtime trying to get their heads around briefings coming out of the UK government. The government is saying it is close to the promised deal on aid, doubling African aid from $25 to $50bn. In a miracle of instant rebuttal designed to make the most conscientious Downing Street spin doctor weep, ActionAid's number crunchers sent this out within hours of Gordon Brown's interview this morning. Warning: if you are tired after three days of marching and travelling, the figures will swim before your eyes. But if you are determined to see the whole G8 from the point of view of deep detail, read this Briefing Document for Journalists, issued this afternoon by ActionAid...

Wolfowitz: I didn't read full Africa Commission report

For those who have followed the ascent of Paul Wolfowitz to the leadership of the World Bank the following will be worth a read: following his big trip to Africa in June he addressed the US Corporate Council on Africa last week, and the transcript of both the speech and the interchange, which included Daniel Moroka - Botswana Minister of Trade and Industry, has just been uploaded. There are several highlights...

African leaders go head to head with Bush

While G8 leaders gear up for Gleneagles, African leaders are coming under pressure at home: after the G7 debt deal in London, a cry of "show us the money" has gone up in the African media.

Ghana's president Kufuor had to calm down domestic expectations last week, after a group African leaders met President Bush. Ghana's foreign minister told reporters that Kufuor had been:

"quite emphatic on the issue of debt relief, which, he stated, should be across the board to all Third World countries without conditions, stressing that it would give the countries some breather to accelerate development."

The African leaders' main issue at the White House meeting was what they see as the conditionality and bureaucracy involved in US aid and trade initiatives.

Conditionality - the big divider

In a Newsnight interview last night, Bono "threw a brick through a window" on the issue of conditionality. Its an issue that divides Europe from America and the NGOs from the summiteers - but everybody's been avoiding it. He said:

"Conditionality actually is a word that means different things to different people. When we talk about conditionality we are talking about clear transparent processes, seeing where the money is going. Some people - the IMF/World bank - although they've stopped this now, or are stopping it now under pressure, [want] conditionalities to open their markets, forcing these countries to open their markets to get loans from the Bank and the Fund. Of course, this is obscene because we protect our own agriculture here in Europe and that's what the Trade Justice Movement is all about."

Actually, the old style conditionality Bono objects to is still a live issue...

Midges, mossies and the small matter of $10bn

Surveying the blogosphere in preparation for the big week I came across this: a guide to the Scottish midge problem. Midgies are legendary among hikers and mountaineers, but how many foreign visitors to Scotland are aware that July is the month that culicoides impunctatus goes kamikaze for human flesh? Getting a head net may not be an option if Tayside Police enforce the usual "no balaclavas, no hoodies" line, but the website gives handy hints about where to get one.

Nets are actually on the agenda at the summit, but its a deadly serious issue. Malaria killed a million people last year: 90% of them children, 90% in sub-Saharan Africa. There 40% of hospital outpatient visits and 50% of hospital admissions are due to Malaria. The Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria is an alliance backed by the IMF/World Bank and the UN to pool resources and focus efforts against the disease. Insecticide treated mosquito nets are - as the nurse in BBC occupational health drums into us - a great way to prevent infection. But they cost on average $57 a net to provide to developing countries, and there are a lot of social barriers to making the solution work.