UN issues bleak African warning

'Rich countries should allow Africa to compete'

		By David Loyn BBC world affairs correspondent

The head of the United Nations office in Africa has warned that the continent is failing to meet any of the development targets set at last year's UN millennium summit.

KY Amoako, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca), said that even incurable optimists have been cured when they looked at Africa's dismal economic progress.

UN goals for 2015

Halve the number of people living on less than $1 a day

Halve the number of people without safe drinking water

Enable all children to complete primary school

Halt and reverse the spread of Aids and malaria

The UN set ambitious targets to be reached by 2015 at its millennium summit.

But only one African country is on course to cut infant mortality, only six to combat malnutrition and the list goes on.

Mr Amoako, who was speaking at a Downing Street lecture in London, painted a bleak picture of a continent lagging behind the rest of the world with worsening performance and mounting angry demands for change.

He said the world could not afford to ignore the problems, especially after the 11 September attacks in the US.

World solution

He said poverty and conflict were ultimately the seeds of terrorism, and he pointed towards the Asian tigers and some Latin American economies as the examples which Africa has failed to follow.

His solution is for foreign investment as well as increased aid and the cancellation of debt.

The developed world needs to cut subsidies to its farmers so that African farmers can compete, he said.

Africa is a personal priority for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. He kept an appointment with key African leaders only days after the 11 September attacks.

He said there was now no disagreement over what needed to be done in Africa and the world needed to leap over its natural caution and deal with the problems.