A special $20 billion aid fund for Africa? Perhaps, but not just yet…, ODI Blog, July 2005

Speaking at ODI on Friday, Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu called for most of the new aid for Africa to be placed in a special new $20bn fund – equivalent to 5% of Africa’s GDPGross Domestic Product – channelled through the African Development Bank, but administered directly by African Ministers of Finance. He amplified his remarks in a later interview for the BBC World Service’s Newshour programme. The purpose of this new fund would be to implement the programmes and activities foreseen in the NEPAD Action Plans. Professor Nkuhlu is Chairman of the NEPAD Steering Committee and Head of the NEPADNew Partnership for Africa's Development Secretariat, as well as being an adviser to South African President Thabo Mbeki. He was flying a kite, either of his own accord or as part of a strategy. But is this a kite that should fly?....................