Tony Blair signs up to deal on Africa

Labour’s Prime Minister Tony Blair has signed up to a host of renewed pledges on Africa at the G8 summit in Germany.

G8 leaders - from the US, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and Canada have agreed a multibillion-pound package to boost the fight against Aids and provide free schooling for African children.

Speaking to reporters, Tony Blair said that the agreement represented a true partnership between Africa and the developed world, with promises of good governance and an anti-corruption drive.

Tony Blair said -

"The important thing about what we have agreed today is that we have recommitted ourselves to all the commitments we made a couple of years ago at Gleneagles...we have set out how we are going to do them.

"We have got a long way to go and a lot to do but the truth is there's been immense progress made. Africa is going to be right at the centre of the agenda and that's got to be good news."

Extra aid totalling £30 billion will be provided over the next few years as part of a "strong commitment" to universal access to antiretroviral HIV treatments by 2010. The G8 countries also agreed to boost education funding in Africa by around £250 million this year and promised to support long-term funding of the schools initiative.

Further commitments include halving the number of malaria deaths in 30 African countries and providing sustainable financing for African peacekeeping with a view to establishing a "stand-by force".

British officials told reporters that the agreement marked "important practical progress" on the pledges made at the Gleneagles summit in 2005.