British Prime Minister Tony Blair says developed nations are on the verge of a historic deal to lift Africa out of poverty, but aid agencies worried yesterday that any agreement might fall short of what is needed.

Britain has said its presidency of the Group of Eight nations this year should be judged on what is done to help the impoverished continent where millions die each year from disease and hunger.

It is pushing for a write-off of poor countries' debt and a doubling of aid.

But as G8 finance ministers readied to meet in London this week to lay the groundwork for a summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July, campaigners expressed concern that Britain's ambitious targets may not be met.

"This will be a make-up operation where they say everything is fine and next year we'll have millions more dead because of the ineptitude of rich governments," said Francesco Oddone, economist at Eurodad, a network of 48 development organizations.

In Washington, Blair and US President George W. Bush said on Tuesday they were close to agreement on a plan to that would cancel up to 100 per cent of poor African countries' debt. But they failed to agree on new aid.

And while Bush conceded that writing off debts to international organizations should be done with new money, both leaders said that assistance should only be given to those countries that are ready to tackle corruption. Blair's spokesman said yesterday the debt cancellation could benefit around 25 of the poorest countries.

No finance facility?

Blair said the rest of the G8 - France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia - now had to be persuaded to clinch a deal. But Paris, Tokyo and Berlin have their own debt relief proposal which would help only five countries.

The finance ministers this week will have to thrash out how to pay for any debt relief deal - a likely sticking point when budgets are already stretched tight.

British Finance Minister Gordon Brown has proposed selling International Monetary Fund gold reserves to write off poor countries' debts to the international lender but this has found little support.

On Tuesday, the European Union (EU) provided Niger with US$4.7 million in aid to continue improving Niger people's food security, according to a reports from the Nigerien news agency.

World Bank to step up efforts

The World Bank plans to increase its efforts in Africa to help countries mired in poverty achieve growth rates similar to the continent's economic stars, the bank's top official for Africa said on Tuesday.

To show the bank's commitment to Africa, new World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will travel there next week on his first foreign trip since taking over on June 1.

The former US deputy defence secretary will visit Africa's two major powers -- Nigeria and South Africa -- and also stop in Rwanda and Burkina Faso.

Gobind Nankani, the bank's vice-president for Africa, said in an interview that policies under Wolfowitz would seek an overall growth for African countries that would benefit both the poor and the more successful nations.

Source: China Daily