Bush adminstration reduces Africa aid bid

allafrica.com

25th October, 2001.

Charles Cobb Jr.

U.S. Development Assistance to sub-Saharan Africa will shrink in FY2002.

The Bush administration is seeking US$789.4m, just over US$4m less than has being provided this year.

U.S. assistance to sub-Saharan Africa has been diminishing since the end of the Cold War and today stands close to the FY1990 low, according to a Congressional Research Service (CRC) report.

In broad terms, Development Assistance - the successor to the old Economic Support Fund that was created during the cold war - emphasizes "grassroots" development and policy reforms in the economic area. It has included, since 1996, the Child Survival Disease Programs Fund.

Separate requests for funding of the Peace Corps as well as for peacekeeping operations, refugee assistance and food aid, bring the FY 2002 request to US$1992.7bn, slightly down from the US$1998.8 designated for FY 2001.

However, the Administration has promised to fund the African Development Bank, African Development Fund and African Development Foundation at FY2001 levels

The CRC report cites data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation that finds "the United States consistently ranks behind France and Germany as a donor of bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) to sub-Saharan Africa. In some years, it ranks behind Japan as well."

Security assistance is increasing again, primarily because of U.S. support for African peacekeeping. For FY2002, the administration is seeking US$20m under the Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) program, an amount that matches what was appropriated for the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI) in FY2001. More money is being sought under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program and the International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs in Africa. With the exception of South Africa, these programs cost under a million dollars per country.

Most striking has been the funding for international peacekeeping in Sierra Leone; US$318m is being sought for FY2002, up from an estimated US$84.2m in FY2001. FY2001's allocation of US$5.3m to the Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to a requested US$83.5m. New, post-September 11, security concerns are likely to provoke even more increased funding requests.

The report notes that additional development assistance reaches Africa "through a variety of indirect channels," and that these additional inputs would bring the FY2002 total for African aid to well above $2bn.