LONDON — The popular pressure being mobilized and brought to bear on the Group of Eight countries, including both Britain and Japan, to increase aid substantially to Africa and cancel poorer countries' debt, is certainly having an impact. But it is not quite the one at which the campaigners were aiming.
Armies of celebrities and pop stars have been mobilized by energetic Irish rocker Bob Geldof to besiege national leaders when they meet outside Edinburgh for the G8 summit in a few days' time. This has certainly aroused public interest and awareness to a high pitch. More can certainly be done to end world poverty. But the more reflective elements in public opinion are focusing on a different aspect of Africa's plight.
It is being increasingly argued that before more aid money is sent in Africa's direction, or more debts forgiven, some tough questions need to be asked about what has happened to the billions of dollars already spent there. Why has most of it disappeared? Why are living standards in many African countries — although not all — lower now than 30 years ago? What happened to the hundreds of millions earned from Nigeria's oil, for example, when Nigeria's citizens remain as poor and oppressed as ever?