§ 45. Colonel Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs when he received the report made by the Council of Europe Study Group for the Development of Africa; by whom the United Kingdom was represented in this Group; what consideration has been given to the suggestions that a Bank for African Development and an African Investment Fund should be set up; to what extent these specific suggestions were considered in Accra last month; and on what lines it is proposed that further urgent consideration of these and kindred proposals should proceed.
§ Mr. Ian HarveyThe report was received in October last. The study group was composed of independent experts serving in a purely personal capacity. One member, Mr. Arthur Gaitskell, was from the United Kingdom.
As my right hon. Friend informed the hon. Member for Govan (Mr. Rankin) on 19th February, the Committee of Ministers has not yet received any recommendations for consideration by Governments. The report is still under consideration by a Committee of the Consultative Assembly.
8WOne major problem about a development bank and an investment fund is whether there would be any new sources of capital to sustain these institutions.
These ideas were not considered at the Accra meeting, which was concerned with the inauguration of the new technical assistance scheme known as the Foundation for Mutual Assistance in Africa South of the Sahara, and was not- concerned with capital investment schemes.