Bush Has Quietly Tripled Aid to Africa
WASHINGTON, 31. December: President George Bushs legacy is sure to be defined by his wielding of US military power in Afghanistan and Iraq, but there is another, much softer and less-noticed effort by his administration in foreign affairs: a dramatic increase in US aid to Africa.
The president has tripled direct humanitarian and development aid to the worlds most impoverished continent since taking office and recently vowed to double that increased amount by 2010 – to nearly 9 billion US dollar.
The moves have surprised – and pleased – longtime supporters of assistance for Africa, who note that because Bush has received little support from African American voters, he has little obvious political incentive for his interest.
– I think the Bush administration deserves pretty high marks in terms of increasing aid to Africa, said Steve Radelet, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.
Bush has increased direct development and humanitarian aid to Africa to more than 4 billion dollar a year from 1,4 billion in 2001, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Four African nations – Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Uganda – rank among the worlds top 10 recipients in aid from the United States.
Beyond increasing aid to Africa, Bush has met with nearly three dozen African heads of state during his six years in office. He visited Africa in his first term, and aides say he hopes to make a return visit next year.
Although some activists criticize Bush for not doing more to end the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, others credit him for playing a role in ending deadly conflicts in Liberia, the DR Congo and other parts of Sudan. Meanwhile, Bush has overseen a steady rise in US trade with Africa, which has doubled since 2001.
– He should be known for increasing – doubling development assistance and tripling it to Africa after a period in which US development assistance was essentially flat for decades, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said recently.
– He should be known for the largest single investment in AIDS and malaria, the biggest health investment of any government program ever, added she.
To many longtime Africa supporters, all of this is surprising for a president who is often criticized as lacking curiosity about much of the world and who heads a political party traditionally skeptical of the efficacy of foreign aid.
But attacking African poverty has become a growing priority of some of the religious groups at the core of Bushs political base, and some lawmakers credit them with stoking the presidents interest in the subject.
Kilde: The Push Journal
