African problem dominates agenda of G8 Kananaskis summit's 2nd day

On the second and last day of work of the "G8" leaders' summit in Kananaskis, resort town in Canada's Alberta province, priority will be given to a large-scale plan of help to African countries' development. The "G8" session will start at 8.31 a.m., local time. The "G8" heads of state and government will coordinate measures, based on African countries' initiative called the New Partnership for Africa's Development /NEPAD/.

It is a Marshall plan of a sort concerning Africa. The initiative is aimed at intensifying the economic growth three-fold and reducing poverty twice as much. In particular, Marshall suggests investing $64 bln and ensuring a 7-% economic growth within the next 15 years.

The second session is planned to be attended by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the leaders of four African countries: Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and the SAR, which are the authors of the NEPAD.

Observers point out that Canada, which was actively involved in drafting the plan, would like the summiteers to reach an agreement and announce a serious initiative to render assistance and to invest in African countries after the summit. However, doubts are voiced in the summit's smoke-rooms as to the success of the plan. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is reported to have remarked on Wednesday that the package of essential aid was hard to aggregate and it was rather reduced.

Earlier the "G8" leaders resolved to allocate $1 bln to lighten the debt burden of Africa's poorest countries.