ADDIS ABABA - Jean Chrétien warned African leaders yesterday they will "pay the price" of reduced foreign aid and private investment if they fail to convince Western nations they are committed to implementing strict guidelines of good governance and human rights reforms.
Following a major address to representatives from Africa's 53 countries -- including diplomats from some of the world's most repressive regimes -- the Prime Minister said Canada and other G8 nations will demand accountability from the continent's leaders before full implementation of a long-term African assistance plan.
"If it is not done very professionally, they will have no credibility. If the decisions were to be not serious, they know that they will pay the price for it," Mr. Chrétien said after a joint address to the Organization for African Unity and the Economic Council for Africa. "If it is just a sham, it won't work."
His audience included representatives from some of the continent's worst human rights violators, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Gabon.
African nations and the G8 countries are in the final stages of negotiating a so-called "new partnership" for the economic and democratic revival of the world's poorest continent.
The African Action Plan, which is to be endorsed at June's G8 summit in Kananaskis, is designed to reward progressive nations with increased development assistance, while repressive regimes would be limited to basic humanitarian aid.
The key to the deal is an African-designed "peer review" system, which will rank nations from first to worst on a wide-ranging scale of reforms that include social spending, health care, democracy, peace, security and trade liberalization.
"African countries that are demonstrably committed to the implementation of [the plan] in all its aspects -- including good governance -- will have claim to an enhanced partnership," said Mr. Chrétien.
At stake for the top African nations is a promised $500-million in bonus aid money from Canada alone over the next three years. Another $5-billion has been pledged by the United States.
African leaders have yet to finalize the criteria for their peer review process. But there have been signals in recent weeks that African leaders want to water down proposals to include a requirement for political reform to qualify for a high ranking.
Mr. Chrétien, the first Western leader to address the OAU, sounded both cautious and optimistic notes about the potential for a G8-Africa partnership. The joint plans "should not be looked upon as pledging documents or as quick fixes" that will immediately end decades of poverty, he said.
"But by establishing the conditions that are necessary to attract and retain private investment from Africa and abroad, we can shatter the perception, all too deeply rooted, that investing money in Africa doesn't pay."
Mr. Chrétien added that he believes the Africa plan will succeed because "democratic transition is becoming the norm in Africa [and] tolerance for the denial of democracy is evaporating."
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