Bill Newton Dunn checks how our taxes are spent in Africa

1.34.00pm GMT Thu 5th Nov 2009

The local Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands, Bill Newton Dunn, last week took part in a 3-day summit between Parliaments of EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

The meeting took place in Burkina Faso, a small, very poor, landlocked state in West Africa. Semi-desert, French-speaking, its thirteen million people are among the poorest in the world. Its chief industry is rural agriculture in which the main tool is a small spade. It receives 340 million euros annually from the EU including our UK taxes. China gives nothing but "loans" which must be repaid in raw materials. Burkina Faso has no useful raw materials so receives nothing. Is our EU aid making a difference?

With the same president for 22 years, it has huge problems - extensive poverty, low-quality education, infant mortality, its justice system eroding, and only 20% of villages have electricity. Then there are environmental problems of deserts advancing, and water resources depleting.

A plan for a "Great Green Wall" was announced last year by Senegal. To stop desertification, trees will be planted to create a green strip 5 km wide and 7,000 km long from Dakar on the Atlantic to Djibouti on the Red Sea.

Commented at the end of the summit, Bill said:

"West Africa's 16 states have made detailed plans for integration - because globalisation obliges them to (just like Europeans) - dismantling national frontiers, interconnecting railway systems and roads, and a Single African currency by 2025.

"These agreements are backed by leaders. But they are not ratified into binding commitments. With no political driving force behind them, progress is delayed by coups and corruption. The 'Great Green Wall' is one such plan that, although lovely in theory, seems unlikely to be realised in the face of the region's difficulties.

"With the world financial crisis, political instability, and climate change, it is hard to see a positive outlook for West Africa in the near future. But if West Africa is allowed to slip backwards, it may become a breeding-ground for Al Q'aida.