Africa/Global: Africans doubt Blair anti-poverty plan

Africans are skeptical that a new Africa recovery plan proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair will help the poor, and some dismiss it as a public relations gimmick, analysts and campaigners say. Blair's new Africa Commission, in a report due for official release on March 11 but leaked last week, will call for an overhaul in the way rich countries do business with Africa as well as debt cancellation and an end to agricultural subsidies. "The commission raises very, very important issues and if Blair is able to use it to challenge (rich countries) then that is good. I welcome any initiative," said Aseghedech Ghirmazion, director of the East and Horn of Africa office of Germany's Heinrich Boll Foundation, a political and development group. "But will it lead to action? I am very suspicious. I have my doubts that this is going to be anything more than more debates and more talking," he added on Tuesday.