After decades of famine, grinding poverty, colossal debts and enormous slum-growth, Africa is indisputably the worst casualty of economic globalization. As the region takes the further brunt of man-made climate change, the rich nations hold a moral responsibility to reorder economic priorities and coordinate a massive transfer of resources to the impoverished continent.
The International Monetary Fund expects production in Sub Saharan Africa to increase by almost six percent in 2006. The growth rate is higher than at any time in the last thirty years, and the performance is not isolated but continues a trend towards accelerating growth. It is, moreover, not solely the poorest economies who are growing rapidly, or oil producers, although both of these groups are benefiting. It is also countries such as South Africa and Kenya for whom the largest economic management problem is not just ending civil conflict, a problem all too common in the continent.
The large inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into Africa since 2000 looks good on paper but is unlikely to deliver lasting benefits to Africans according to a United Nations report.
A senior United Nations official has accused President George Bush of "doing damage to Africa" by cutting funding for condoms, a move which may jeopardise the successful fight against HIV/Aids in Uganda.
In the month leading up to the G8, Nigeria revealed that its leaders had stolen $390bn (£222bn) over the last 40 years. It was a shocking admission and provided fuel for those critics who say the African problem is irredeemable largely due to corruption.