Burundi wins $700m aid pledge

Buyoya is working 'day and night' for a ceasefire

By Emma Jane Kirby in Geneva

Burundi has been given more than $700m of aid by international donors to help it recover from years of civil unrest.

The money was awarded to the central African state following a two day meeting in Geneva with western countries and financial institutions.

Afghanistan is an international preoccupation and there is concern that Africa may be forgotten. There was no evidence of that at the meeting, but it is a fear we all share

President Pierre Buyoya

The $764m worth of aid awarded to Burundi is to help the country implement its restructuring plans following eight years of civil war which has left at least 200,000 people dead and displaced 800,000 more.

President Buyoya, who heads the transitional government in Burundi, said he was working day and night towards a ceasefire and felt confident that in the coming months, a solution would be found.

Thousands of Burundians are destitute because of war

Civil war broke out in 1993 after soldiers from the minority Tutsi dominated army killed the first democratically elected Hutu president.

Hutu rebels continue to reject a ceasefire and have intensified their attacks since the new government was installed on 1 November.

President Buyoya said much of the money - $190m of which has come from the European Union - would be used in the country's fight against Aids.

More than 11.3% of the adult population is now infected with the HIV virus, which the president said had decimated the population and led to Aids patients monopolising all hospital beds.

Burundi has a national debt of more than $1bn. Last year debt repayment ate up 90% of its export revenues.