ACCRA, Ghana — In the runup to the Group of Eight meeting in Japan last week, activists of all stripes were working hard to ensure that their issue would be on the agenda. While the agenda changes from year to year, one item has become a mainstay: debt relief. The fact that this issue repeatedly resurfaces calls into question the effectiveness of a well-intentioned development tool.
Instead of promoting debt relief year after year, the time has come to pursue more sensible, sustainable solutions. The G8 finance ministers have established several laudable and impressive goals that commit them to facilitating economic growth and development in African countries and affirming the importance of "good financial governance, including long-term fiscal discipline for resource-rich countries."
If African economies are to sustain their growth and lift millions of citizens out of poverty, as India and China have done, better fiscal discipline and financial governance are essential.