Africa: Fraction of Oil Profits Sought for Poorest Nations

The world’s 50 poorest nations — ranging from Cape Verde and Haiti to Nepal and Sierra Leone — are turning to the major oil-producing nations for urgently needed assistance for development.

Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, U.N. under-secretary-general for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), has proposed that oil-producing nations should consider earmarking just 10 cents per barrel from their rising incomes for infrastructure development in LDCs in the next 10 years.
“This is a part of our efforts to secure new sources of development finance for LDCs,” Chowdhury told IPS. “We need an expressed willingness on the part of producers and companies directly involved in oil production.”

“If major charities like the Gates Foundation, Bennet Foundation, Turner Foundation and Soros Foundation can decide in recent years to focus on the neediest countries, why not oil producers, whose revenues have multiplied in a big way?” Chowdhury said.

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