§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of aid to southern Africa is tied to the purchase of British goods; what percentage is for local costs; whether there are any procurement conditions which encourage procurement from countries other than the recipient within the southern Africa region; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. ChalkerIn 1988, the last year for which we have figures, the proportion of our bilateral aid to southern Africa, defined as the present membership of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) plus South Africa, tied to the purchase of British goods was 76 per cent., and the proportion for local costs was 2 per cent. Proportions vary from year to year and from country to country.
However, Britain announced in September this year that procurement under British financial aid to countries listed by the United Nations as least developed would in future be opened up to producers in all developing 149W countries with a GNP per capita of up to US $1,135 in 1989. In southern Africa the least-developed countries are Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. Of the countries in the region, only Botswana, the Republic of South Africa and Namibia, for which we have no data, are thought to have had a GNP per capita of more than US $1,135 in 1989.