>www.ghanaweb.com: General News of Tuesday, 21 May 2002
>
>Bono Vists Nima
>
>ACCRA, Ghana - Bono leans back in his car seat. His shirt is stained with
>large patches of sweat, his boots are dusty. He has been talking to
>Ghanaians at a trade fair for over an hour, but he is still eager to discuss
>Africa's desperate need for aid.
>
>He is also angry after visiting the run-down district of Nima in Ghana's
>coastal capital Accra. There, malaria runs rife, there is no running water,
>and the poverty-stricken residents have to pay to go to the toilet.
>
>"I got all kinds of mixed feelings. Agitation ...quite angry. I'm getting
>angrier as the day goes on. I cannot believe that this is a world I want to
>be part of," he said Tuesday.
>
>"Nima is the real world. It's where the full force of the free market is
>being felt. I thought they should be throwing rocks at us," he said.
>
>It was the end of a long day and the first of many. Bono is in Africa for a
>10-day tour with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. The trip is billed by
>the U.S. administration as a fact-finding mission, that comes on the heels
>of a new commitment to boost aid to Africa.
>
>For the lead singer of U2, the trip is more like a mission.
>
>"The aim of the trip is to show Secretary O'Neill effective aid and what it
>can do," he said. "These people in Africa don't have much time for us to
>dress up for the debate, as important as that may be."
>
>Bono and O'Neill may be sharing a plane on their tour through Ghana, South
>Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia, but that does not mean they share opinions on
>how best to help these countries.
>
>Bono acknowledges that he is learning from the silver-haired 66-year-old,
>who has criticized past anti-poverty programs in Africa, saying they failed
>to generate real development and so wasted billions of dollars.
>
>"He's shown me stuff. The trade fair was his idea. He believes in private
>enterprise. I've explained to him that in some parts of Africa people are
>too sick to be part of the work force. There is a poverty trap," he said.
>
>O'Neill did not visit Nima with Bono. He was giving a speech to the American
>Chamber of Commerce , but the duo will be together again on Wednesday,
>flying to the northern town of Tamale to talk to villagers.
>
>The pragmatic O'Neill says he is in Africa not to preach but to listen.
>However, he does already have some strong ideas about what needs to be done.
>
>"I think that the solution to poverty is jobs," he told the American Chamber
>of Commerce on Tuesday. "I'm more interested myself in seeing that funds
>flow where opportunity is going to be created."
>
>After his visit to Nima, Bono was more concerned with what he called human
>rights - the right to clean water, and to primary education. He says that
>until these rights are assured, debt forgiveness for poor countries must
>continue.
>
>"Whilst these are not available, we should not, must not and cannot collect
>these old debts. We must make sure in terms of trade that there is a level
>playing field," he said.
>
>The 42-year-old pop icon, whose real name is Paul Hewson, has long
>campaigned to get the Group of Eight top industrial countries to provide
>greater debt relief for the world's poorest countries. He is the co-founder
>of the Debt, AIDS (news - web sites) and Trade in Africa agenda.
>
>During his first day in Ghana, Bono told President John Kufuor that he was a
>fan of the country, and its "dignified and smart" people.
>
>"Ghana is in a position to leap ahead. If it doesn't and if the
>international community doesn't bring common sense and cash to bear, all the
>good will you see latent in the people will be taken advantage of by other
>extremist philosophers that will turn us into their enemies," he said later.
>
>The fact that Bono is such an outspoken advocate for aid does not seem to
>have dampened his star appeal. At the trade fair, people were thrilled to
>have their photos taken with him, and others shyly asked for autographs.
>
>"He's a rock star, and people get very excited when you go places with him,"
>O'Neill said. "But he is also very smart and he cares about people a lot."
>
>Smart and straight-talking. Bono was blunt about what he ultimately wants.
>
>"It's time for action and I am convinced that we will see a historic
>initiative on AIDS within a year. I am confident we will see debts of
>countries performing well against corruption further canceled or fully
>canceled ... and a serious increase in aid," he said.
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>Source: Associated Press
>

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