Few African leaders show up for famine summit

Only four of 54 member nations attend the African Union donors conference in Ethiopia, aimed at raising money to ease the crisis in the Horn of Africa.

By Robyn Dixon,
Los Angeles Times
7:25 PM PDT, August 25, 2011

Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa

Most of Africa's heads of state failed to turn up Thursday for the first African Union donor conference in Ethiopia to raise money for the Horn of Africa famine, leaving activists disappointed with the pledges.

Of the African Union's 54 member nations, only the heads of Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Djibouti participated in the conference in Addis Ababa, along with the head of the transitional government in Somalia, the country hit hardest by the famine. Critics accused African leaders of failing to make good on their rhetoric about finding African solutions for African problems.

Activists said leaders had pledged about $50 million, but much of it was "in kind" assistance, with few details given on the services being offered.

The African Development Bank, meanwhile, said it would donate $300 million for long-term development in the Horn of Africa.

(More here.)