Africa to bear brunt of crisis

Britain: The global economic crisis will cause losses of almost 50 billion dollars to the African nations in 2009, according to a study recently made by an economic-rating agency called ActionAid International. This worrying report said that nearly 27 billion dollars out of that amount will be lost because of the fall in the international economic help Africa now recieves.

Also included is the reduction of income by exports and the income of more developed nations which have been affected by the crisis. ActionAid International pointed out that the loss of income to the African economy is equal to a reduction of 10 percent in the payments Africa must carry out.

ActionAid International president Claire Relamed said in the report that this aspect should be discussed in the next meeting of the G-20 in London, a meeting in which there will be one only African country represented, which will be South Africa.

The report said that the African nations that freed their markets will be the most affected by the crisis, just as the case of South Africa, which might fall by 20 percent.

Melamed said that though the developing countries did not cause the recession, they are on the frontline on facing the crisis, and that the African economies opened to global finances are submitted to great risks and very few benefits of development.

ActionAid International was created in 1972 based in the United Kingdom, to reduce poverty for children, families and communities of more than 30 countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

London, Prensa Latina