World Bank Commits $1
Billion to Fight Africa AIDS
Excerpt By Manoah Esipisu, Reuter's Health

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The World Bank has committed $1 billion to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and much of the support will be in the form of grants, the bank's Vice President for Africa Callisto Madavo said Sunday.

Analysts say AIDS is wiping out African professionals faster than replacements can be trained. And millions of dollars are required by each country for prevention and awareness campaigns and to boost healthcare.

AIDS has killed more than 20 million people and infected 40 million more, most of them in Africa.

African countries have previously complained that financial support from the World Bank was in the form of credits, and states worst hit by HIV/AIDS were far too poor to afford loans.

"We have significantly upped our commitment to fighting AIDS in Africa. I have approval to commit $1 billion," Madavo said.

"From July this year, support has been in the form of grants. Countries that got loans earlier and are putting in new requests, such as Kenya and Ethiopia, will receive grants.

"What we are preaching is a greater focus on implementation of programs to combat HIV/AIDS. We want implementation strengthened," he said, adding that the World Bank was working with grassroots communities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the anti-AIDS battle on the poor continent.

Madavo said the good news from Africa was that most states were waking up to the AIDS nightmare and seeking ways to combat it. He added that in countries where there had been a reluctance to fight AIDS, peer pressure was forcing a radical change.

DANCING AROUND AIDS

"We still have some countries dancing around the issue of AIDS, but peer pressure is being brought to bear on them. There are leaders like (Ugandan) President (Yoweri) Museveni asking their colleagues what they are doing to fight AIDS, and Africa is rising to the challenge," he said.

Madavo said partly with World Bank support, the fight against AIDS had finally gathered pace in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Madavo, who spoke to Reuters on a wide range of issues, also said concerns by some African countries over the slow speed of debt relief delivery under the enhanced initiative for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) were legitimate.

But he said about $25 billion in debt had already been written off so far--mainly to African countries that qualified--under HIPC, which continued to face criticism.

"We should be doing everything we can to deliver debt relief and lay a firmer foundation for growth," he said, pointing to more grants rather than loans as one option to aid countries.

Many African countries argue that bureaucratic red tape on the part of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank and a string of tough conditions delayed benefits under HIPC.

But senior economic analysts in Johannesburg argued that countries like Nigeria and Gabon--which strongly criticized HIPC--did not have a record of sound financial management and had little to show for billions of dollars in oil revenues.

Madavo also said the World Bank was keen to aid post-conflict countries, and had moved quickly to support Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone--which are all emerging from periods of sustained instability.

"We don't sit on the sidelines until everything is settled. We have to take a risk for peace," said Madavo, adding that the World Bank was funding disarmament in Angola and Sierra Leone.

Reference Source 89

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