[stop-imf] Sachs: African countries should refuse to pay debt

[Robert Weissman]

The East African (Nairobi)

January 25, 2006
By Philip Ngunjiri

With a $201b debt, Africa will never end poverty, says Sachs

The director of the Millennium Project, Prof Jeffery Sachs, has asked
Africa to repudiate its $201 billion debt if developed countries fail to
cancel it.
Describing the debts as "unaffordable" Prof Sachs, who is also an
advisor to the UN said: "If they won't cancel the debts, I would suggest
obstruction by yourselves."

Professor Sachs was in Nairobi while on a six nation tour to promote the
Millennium Village approach that was successfully piloted in Sauri
village in Kenya's Siaya district last year.

The acclaimed economist said his views were backed by studies that have
shown that, with the millstone of debt hanging around its neck, it is
impossible for Africa to achieve its development goal of halving
poverty.
According to him, billions more people could enjoy the fruits of the
global economy, and tens of millions of lives could be saved if donors
fulfilled their commitments.

"The cost of alleviating extreme poverty is definitely affordable," he
said.
Prof Sachs explained that many US citizens overestimate the amount of
aid their government spends on poor nations by 30 to 50 times.

"Of the approximately $4 billion the US spends in Africa, less than one
penny out of every $100 actually reaches Africans."

The Project, which is based at the Earth Institute, was established in
2002 to create a global plan to achieve the UN Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

The MDGs are a set of clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger,
disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination
against women. They were adopted by world leaders at the UN Millennium
Summit in September 2000.
The project is a three-year initiative conceived by the UN to analyse
policy options and develop a plan of implementation for achieving the
goals.

Prof Sachs also pledged that, in 2006, the Millennium Project would be
focusing more on food production to alleviate situations like the
drought in Kenya and on making investments in water management, health
and other basic infrastructural requirements.

During his tour, Prof Sachs will also hold urban dialogue in a number of
cities in each of the six countries. These consultations with a range of
government and non-government stakeholders will provide the basis for a
Millennium Cities initiative that will complement the Millennium
Villages by focusing on urban development challenges.

Prof Sachs, who is the director of the Centre for International
Development at Harvard University, will also visit Malawi, Ghana,
Nigeria, Mali and Senegal.

Prof Sachs is internationally renowned for his work as economic advisor
to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet
Union, Asia and Africa, and his work with international agencies on
problems of poverty reduction, debt cancellation for poor countries and
disease control.

He has been an advisor to the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, the World
Health Organisation, and the United Nations Development Programme among
others.

During 2000-2001, he was chairman of the Commission on Macroeconomics
and Health of the World Health Organisation, and from September 1999
through March 2000 he served as a member of the International Financial
Institutions Advisory Commission established by the US Congress.

Last September, investigators with a wealth of expertise in diverse
disciplines gathered at the New York Academy of Sciences for an update
on the UN Millennium Project.

Pedro Sanchez, who organised the event, reported that in a single year
Sauri, the first of 12 Millennium Villages, was able to increase its
corn production fourfold and to build a health clinic.