Why do African countries keep pushing for aid that rich countries are reluctant and unwilling to give?

G8 Summits are fast becoming synonymous with Africa’s miseries. It’s almost predictable that at the top of the agenda of every G8 Summit is how Africa is dealing with the triumvirate issues of poverty, political instability and disease. In the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, it was Darfur. In this year’s Summit in Japan, it was a threat to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe for holding a fraudulent election and suppressing the opposition.

Actually, it has become fashionable, prior to and during these summits – forget what happens when they’re concluded - for G8 leaders to pledge tens of billions of dollars to help Africa fight poverty. These are usually in the form of aid and debt cancellations.

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