I couldn’t help but be buoyed by news this morning that the Killer B’s, Bush and Blair, have come to an agreement on forgiving debt for the poorest countries in Africa and Latin America. The deal is expected to be approved by the G8 finance ministers this weekend, and would write off $16.7-billion (US) “owed” to foreign lenders such as the IMF and the World Bank.
To me, this is a necessary step in reducing poverty the world over, especially since this money was first lent with extremely restrictive conditions attached, conditions such as “deregulation” (read: privatization) of many industries, which made it nearly impossible for borrowers to become self-sufficient.
But as Naomi Klein points out in The Guardian, real eradication of poverty in Africa will only occur if African people are allowed to control their own resources.