HC Deb 10 March 1958 vol 584 cc7-8W

The member Governments of the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa south of the Sahara are the Governments of Belgium, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom (whose membership covers all their respective African territories south of the Sahara) and the Governments of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Ghana, Liberia and the Union of South Africa.

The remaining countries and territories in Africa south of the Sahara, whose Governments are not at present members of the Commission, but which will also be eligible for technical assistance under the Foundation, are Ethiopia, the Sudan, Somalia (at present under Italian trusteeship) and the Spanish territories south of the Sahara. The Governments concerned were all therefore invited to send observers to the Accra meeting. At this stage it is not known to what extent any of these Governments will decide to avail themselves of the facilities offered by the Foundation.

If Governments outside the region wished to contribute technical assistance through the Foundation the Commission could make arrangements for this in appropriate cases but no specific case has yet arisen. The Commission welcomed the presence of a United States observer at the Accra meeting as evidence of the interest of the United States Government in the scheme. United States aid programmes already operate in the region. There is, however, no commitment to the scheme on the part of the United States Government.