As Africa's funds from the West fall short, Kiev's continue to pour in

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: AFP
21 Jun 2023 12:50

African countries consider that the cash poured into Ukraine compared to aid to Africa reveals the double standards of Western countries.

A man holds a placard reading "Arm Ukraine now!" during a demonstration demanding Bulgaria to provide arms and ammunition to Ukraine in Sofia, on April 28, 2022 (AFP)

African countries slammed the West's double standards regarding the exponential increase of funds poured into the war in Ukraine compared to a decline in aid provided to the whole continent.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that aid for Ukraine jumped in just one year from under a billion dollars to $16 billion, while that destined for whole of Africa fell by eight percent to $29 billion.

Ukraine supporters argue that the aid is essential to prevent the Eastern European country from collapsing, which would result in a shockwave effect across the EU.

But African countries see that this has exposed the West's real approach toward the continent.

During a joint meeting between the International Monetary Fund IMF and World Bank in Washington last April, "African countries expressed fears of a double standard on international aid," a French government official told AFP.

The conflict in Ukraine "lays bare the real face of the great powers in their action with regard to" Africa, a diplomat in Benin told the agency earlier this week, ahead of a conference in France hosted by President Emmanuel Macron on poverty and climate financing.

Africa was being "abandoned", the diplomat added.

German-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy IfW said earlier that Kiev's allies have collectively pledged just over $150 billion since the start of the conflict.

European Union’s President Ursula von der Leyen revealed on Tuesday a new 50 billion euros aid package for Ukraine.

In a conference on Ukraine's reconstruction plan that took place in London on Wednesday, the World Bank said it expects that almost $411 billion could be further pooled together.

"You see these enormous sums which at one time were considered an impossibility and which these days are considered possible," Niger's Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou told the news agency.

This shows that the "resources and mechanisms exist" that could also be used to send assistance to Africa, he continued.

Although $100 billion a year was pledged in 2009 by rich coutries for developing nations battling climate change, it was never upheld by the parties that announced their commitment.

Another failed scheme is a 2021 pledge made by G20 members to rechannel $100 billion in IMF special drawing rights (SDR) from rich states to impoverished economies.

"There's a crisis of confidence" between donors and vulnerable countries, said Elise Dufief, a researcher at France's Institute of Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI).

"When you see the crisis in Ukraine or North American banks which go bankrupt, the response comes very quickly."

The conflict in Ukraine stressed the need for African nations to establish self-sufficiency without relying on the West, a Zambian official said according to AFP.

"There are conflicts in northern Congo, conflicts in Sudan and other parts of Africa, but the support Ukraine is getting from western countries is unprecedented," the official added.

"The West has focused on supporting European countries. It’s time the African Union organised the African countries."