Africa: A No-Trust Fund for Africa

Civil society groups say European Union plans to launch a trust fund to disburse aid to Africa independently of the World Bank will contribute little to eradication of poverty. The European Commission, the European Union (EU) executive, launched its plan Thursday (February 9) to fund development in Africa through the European Investment Bank (EIB), the soft lending arm of the EU. The fund, which should be operational by June, will mainly provide subsidised low-interest loans to finance water, energy, transport and telecoms infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on cross-border projects.