G-8 lacks Africa Commitment

The world’s richest and most powerful nations have assembled to pat one another on the back and re-set life on earth until they meet again next year. The Great Eight - no sorry, the G-8, have also as usual managed to create a crisis out of thin air just before the summit, jeopardizing the meeting’s agenda as it concerns Africa. This to follow up on their collective promise at last year’s conclave in Glen Eagles, Scotland.
Thanks to an increasingly antsy Putin assuming an untimely assertiveness, the talk has been fear of a return to the Cold War... not totally unfounded, given that Russia seems to be rushing toward its traditional authoritarianism.
The current Russian brouhaha over a US proposal for an anti-ballistic missile system in the Czech Republic and Poland also threatened to overshadow the summit’s top agenda - Climate Change. A success of sorts was attained when hosts Germany quickly announced a compromise agreement had been reached on how to deal with global environmental peril. Great! Now, the developed world will control climate change but poor Africa is virtually off the agenda…
Of course, a token select few African leaders were invited, along with our own P.M., as if the G-8 needed witnesses to record that hey, they did mention Africa but you know...
Even Tony Blair, the erstwhile friend of Africa, played the original lame duck and conveniently forgot to pack his so passionate belief that ‘Africa is a do-able project.”
We Africans know that climate change is not of our doing. If anything no other continent has by default of underdevelopment, contributed so much to the protection of natural habitats.
The latest G-8 was the most lukewarm ever and one is indeed boldly arrogant or out of tune with objective reality to consider the summit as a success. The whole shinding was an exercise in futility and probably served more as a sending off party for outgoing Blair and a welcome to-the-club bash for Angela Merkel and Shino Abe.
A compromise of sorts was reached on a preposterously distant, barely discernible goal of halving emissions of green house gases by 2050. The super eight also pledged to double aid to Africa by 2010. Both are on the surface commendable decisions. Both are also full of hot air… especially the latter, which approaches to an insult on African dignity.
One wonders from what dictionary the G8 have defined the words ‘pledge’, ‘doubling’, and ‘halving’. Africa remembers Glen Eagles all too vividly. Where, dear G8, is the money promised last year when Africa was so much on your minds that you couldn’t wait until you went to your capitals and signed blank checks for Africa…?
And about the 60 billion pledged at this summit, the G8 should realize that Africa is definitely poor but certainly not foolish. We know that only 3 billion of that huge figure is fresh cash- or rather virtual money, as the 60 billion they ‘gave’ as this week factors in the 57 billion they pledged last year but didn’t or wouldn’t deliver.
One profound lesson that Africa can draw from such summits is that Africa’s problems are first and foremost a matter for Africans to solve. Perhaps the G-8, by procrastinating on its promises is telling us not to expect from the developed world but to integrate within the continent to forestall this embarrassing dependency on the donor countries.
A collective African effort is required to make a difference in each state, sub region, regions and continentally. There is immense wealth in Africa that would help make the continent self sufficient, if not immediately, then as Bob Geldof said - inevitably.
This continent should not depend on the hesitant good will of the G-8 or for that matter all other donors. Dear African brothers and sisters lets mobilize our intellect, individual and national wealth and above all, our pride, in order to prevent the indignity of abject solicitation from reluctant rich countries. That’s, when Africa will finally be truly independent.