Africa: Aid Policies (Hansard, 7 July 1993)

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords, we support the development of sound economic and environmental policies; open and accountable government; respect for human rights; and programmes to help the poorest, particularly women.

§ Lord Judd
My Lords, would not the Minister agree that, at 290 billion US dollars, Africa's total crippling debt is now two-and-a-half times greater than in 1980? In many countries the debt outstanding exceeds the country's gross annual output. As 65 per cent. of the debt is owed to official creditors, has not the time come for decisive inter-governmental action? How high on the agenda of G7 will the matter be? What specific action is being proposed at the IMF, the World Bank and elsewhere?

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords, I am glad to be able to tell the noble Lord, Lord Judd, that the whole issue of Trinidad terms is being raised by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister in Tokyo at the G7 conference. A number of Members of another place and myself had a meeting with the Prime Minister on the matter last week and I know how determined he is to ensure that full Trinidad terms are implemented as soon as possible. We are certainly pressing others to do as we have done and improve on those terms.
However, debt relief will always be linked to economic reform. We must have a policy which helps African governments to redistribute resources away from costly subsidies to much more cost-effective services, which they have not hitherto been doing. It is not only a question of relieving them of debt—willing as we are to try to get that done on a world-wide basis —but also of helping them to spend the resources that they have much more wisely.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, has the Minister had an opportunity of talking with her noble friend Lady Trumpington since her return from a highly successful visit to the independence celebrations in Eritrea? Will the Government consider a special increase in the aid budget for Eritrea, bearing in mind that their university system will be based on the English language? Much of the equipment in the Port of Massawa, which was totally destroyed, is of British origin. We have the opportunity, by helping Eritreans, to show our support for an example of good government which should be a beacon for the rest of Africa.

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords, I can assure the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, that I have more than daily conversations with my noble friend Lady Trumpington, who reported fully to me on an excellent visit that she made to Eritrea. I am looking forward to visiting Asmara this autumn and discussing with the Government of Eritrea the best ways in which we can help them to stand on their own feet, as they are determined to do, and succeed.

Lord Ennls
My Lords, when the Minister talked to the noble Baroness, did she raise the question of locusts? Does she share my concern in relation to the five-year cyclical problem of locusts, some of which are now in Eritrea and other parts of the Horn of Africa? It is said that there are billions of them simply waiting for the rains before they flood to many other parts of Africa with devastating effects on the social and economic lives of its people. Am I right in thinking that the Government have reduced almost to nil the work that they do on locust control? Can the Minister tell me what is happening?

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords, I will do my best, though I have no specific briefing on locusts before me. Over the years we have had a number of successful locust control spraying operations, not only in East Africa but also in parts of West Africa. There are problems, particularly in Somalia and other parts of East Africa. Our own Natural Resources Institute, which keeps me informed, will no doubt give me the information the noble Lord seeks. I shall see that he receives it in writing and I shall put a copy in the Library.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, bearing in mind that the Government have a good record in these matters and that my question has some relationship with the Question on the Order Paper, will not the Minister agree that the good performance of her government has not been matched by some other governments which could do equally as well? They should be encouraged to emulate the good behaviour and tremendous contribution made by our Government to those poverty stricken areas.

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords, I have rarely been handed such a bouquet from the Opposition Benches. I accept that some things are going a great deal better than previously. We are able to have a good influence in the G7 and in the EC, and have managed on successive occasions to persuade other countries to follow the lead that some of my specialist advisers have given to me. But we need to spread the common sense to which the noble Lord referred; that is, to ensure that countries do not spend above their limits; that they concentrate their resources on their people in a productive way for the education of those people and in a less productive way for the numbers in their families.

§ Lord Callaghan of Cardiff
My Lords, while I am happy to acknowledge the genuine concern of the noble Baroness over the problems that exist in Africa, if we exempt one or two successful African countries, is not the reality that a continuation of present policies 1391 by both the African governments and the industrialised world will completely fail to lift the great majority of people in Africa out of the slough of poverty in which they live at the present time? What is the prospect of that for the industrialised world in the future? What are the prospects of an urgent policy going much further than that proposed by the efforts of the noble Baroness even so far?

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords, there is a series of things that need to happen to help those countries which have stagnant economies to move forward. One of the most important for developing countries will be a successful conclusion of GATT and a reduction of protectionist barriers against Africa's exports. We also need to see further reform of the CAP, otherwise we shall not eliminate the subsidised disposal of agricultural surpluses on the regional market in Africa, which occasionally causes them grave problems.
That is one aspect of the situation. But I believe that Africa's aid dependency, which is already too high, must be reduced. I come back to some of my earlier answers; that is, we need to encourage those countries to have policies supportive of private enterprise, to eliminate corruption and to improve the quality of their public services. We concentrate on doing all those things through our aid programme.

§ Lord Judd
My Lords, does not the Minister agree that, while she is absolutely right to emphasise the fundamental priority of good governance in the countries themselves, her answer to both this question and the previous question on population, illustrate that the overseas aid and development programme of this Government must continue to be a priority? Can she assure the House that she will gain an increase in resources for that programme in the year ahead?

§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey
My Lords, the noble Lord knows perfectly well that I will not give him any such assurance. However, I can assure him that Britain is obtaining better value for money out of its bilateral aid programme than many other countries. I shall work unceasingly to make sure that that improves and that we obtain better value for money for both the British taxpayer and the recipients in the developing countries from our multilateral aid programme, which does not have the same quality standard as do many bilateral programmes.