Today hopes are however more acute yesterday

At a time when the crisis away from the countries of the North aid to Africa, the former Director General of the international monetary Fund (IMF), Michel Camdessus, insists on the interest not to turn a continent which could just 7 growth per year. He warned the France on the temptation to "fall back on itself". And invites the countries of the North to not be the only countries interested in Africa. Michel Camdessus is one of the co-authors of the report that has just published the Africa Progress Panel - a "think tank" chaired by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan UN to ensure compliance with the commitments of the international community in Africa.

"Take action" in Africa: it is the title of your report. Is it to say that nothing has been done in recent years

If, but the changes are slow. Today, hopes are however more acute yesterday. Because there are untapped reservoirs of growth and new fields of aid and international financing. The private, inter alia, are of the order of 500 billion dollars, or four times higher than the OECD's development assistance.

The crisis that Europe is not to forget Africa

This is what is happening! At the Gleneagles Summit in 2005, the countries of the North had promised 25 billion dollars in aid to Africa. It is 11 billion, or 56. This is explained by the decline in GDP in the countries of the North and the depreciation of the euro against the dollar. The needs of Africa cannot be translated in the GDP of the countries of the North, but billion lyricism and INTA! The good surprise comes from the fact that the South is increasingly present in Africa. The Brazil for example offers help for food security. In the countries of the North, in France, the temptation to cut in development aid will be constantly present. The France will be tempted to fall back on itself and to limit its presence where it reports immediately. We must address the focus and think about this Africa. It is a formidable challenge in the long term.

Which, precisely

In France, there is aid fatigue, fatigue of Africa, a kind of despair: we know too that there was corruption, complacency and detestable things in what has been called Françafrique. We do realize enough that this should be corrected and that Africa is the future of the world, the new frontier for development. Africa, it is 1 billion people today and 2 billion in 2050. If we are able to be present and respected for what we can provide, we will be partners of Africa with a potential for growth of the order of 7 the year! The Chinese, like others, have understood that it was a bargain. Foreign investment in Africa have soared over the past ten years and, even if they have been reduced by a third party, they were still of 56 billion dollars in 2009 - 6-6.5 billion made by China.

China is often charged to lead African countries in the debt reaccumulation...

The debt is dangerous when it applies to non-productive expenditures - construction of a stadium, a Presidential Palace, etc.-, but not when it concerns infrastructure investments, which is the case of most of the Chinese actions.