|
Lack of investment claimed to be the tragedy in Africa
Tony Blair must take some credit for edging the Bush administration closer to a deal on multilateral debt relief in Washington this week. But then reducing the debt burden for some of Africa's poorest countries will in no way "make poverty history". That is because the moral question of our time has little to do with public money and everything to do with private capital. The calls for rich taxpayers' money to eliminate poverty, either as debt relief or as aid, drown out the whoosh of billions of dollars of private capital that is circling the globe, looking for a place to land and multiply. The real tragedy is that only 1 per cent of it finds its way to sub-Saharan Africa. This vote of no confidence in Africa on the part of global investors is seen by some as a justification for doubling aid. But this is confounded by the fact that Africa delivers some of the highest returns on investment on the planet. Posted by: too true 2005-06-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=121282 |