The G8 summit wound up under the shadow of terror attacks in London. Many people, including Corporate Watch writers, have only just returned to work after the G8 protests. Here is, therefore, a brief analysis of some of the salient points of the G8 leaders' final declaration.

The Live8 pop stars Bono and Geldof were the only ones to endorse – almost unconditionally – the G8 summit's achievements. Even the Financial Times alluded to the possibility that 'the commitments on aid and trade may be worth less than they appear',¹ and this was certainly a position endorsed by several of the more radical NGOs present at the G8 summit. The University of Toronto's G8 media analysis felt that 'the suddenly more critical editorial evaluations of the G8 that appeared on the summit’s opening day were steadily transformed by the Olympic victory and London attacks to unanimous approval of Blair’s performance at the summit by the event’s end...this is all the more remarkable as the consensus included elite, mass and regional papers from across the political spectrum. '² The role of hype-merchants such as Bono and geldof can also be seen as counting towards this feel-good ending. Michel Chossudovsky has written a detailed report into the links between Live8 and their government and corporate backers (see http://www.ukwatch.net/article/732).

The G8 statement unconditionally embraces the private sector as the main potential economic saviour for Africa, with no mention of the many disasterous consequences of corporate involvement in areas of Africa. The only way they seek to moderate their enthusiasm is with the call to maximise (the thus already positive) 'contribution of local and multinational companies to peace and stability including through working with the UN Global Compact and developing OECD guidance for companies working in zones of weak governance'. The UN Global Compact and the OECD guidance are both voluntary initiatives, of the kind beloved by Mark Moody-Stuart, head of the G8 Business Summit and also of AngloAmerican, which has been accused of working with warlords in its search for gold mining rights in the DR Congo (see corporate watch news). In the area of bribery, the G8 statement again loks towards voluntary initiatives, rather than corporate regulation by 'encouraging companies to adopt anti-bribery compliance programmes'. There is a nod towards the need by states to enforce anti-bribery regulations, but this is thrown into doubt by the general acceptance of corporate bribery as the norm by many government departments. For example, Private Eye has reported, via emails released under the Freedom of Information Act, that at one meeting of the OECD concerned with tackling bribery the chair of the British defence sekect committee, Bruce George, bribery was inevitable, and that someotimes arms companies had to employ it in order to stay competitive in the world market.³

President Obasanjo of Nigeria believed that 'the continent's problems are going to be addressed realistically and effectively by the G8'⁴. In contrast, African civil society groups saw that 'The Summit has simply reaffirmed existing decisions'.⁵ Was President Obasanjo similarly disappointed? Unlikely, since he is one of the members of Africa's political and corporate elite who is likely to benefit from the free market policies pushed by the G8. He would also seem to be, paradoxically, a representative of the 'corrupt' African governing class that the G8 professes to oppose, having been accused of election rigging and sitting on a personal fortune that has never been opened to public scrutiny;⁶ but the G8 talk of 'corruption has always' been a codeword, that targets rulers they do not like while leaving scot-free the governments that are friendly to corporations.

Further Reading:

University of Toronto collection of G8documents

http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2005gleneagles/index.html

Mark Curtis on Brown and G8 development myth

http://www.ukwatch.net/article/726

Statement by African civil society organisations o the G8, via Action Aid

http://allafrica.com/stories/200507090002.html

1Financial Times, 'Now G8 leaders must follow up their words', July 8 2005, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7ea63e52-efe3-11d9-bd3b-00000e2511c8,dwp_uuid=de45700c-d82e-11d9-8fa7-00000e2511c8.html

2University of Toronto G8 Information Centre, 'Gleneagles G8 Boosts Blair at Home', Professor John Kirton, Sarah Brun, July 9, 2005, http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/evaluations/2005gleneagles/coverage.html

3Private Eye, 8^th July, 2005, page 3.

4University of Toronto G8 Information Centre, 'Statement on the Final Day of the Summit, Gleneagles, July 8, 2005 (midday)', http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/summit/2005gleneagles/statement.html

5Joint Statement From African Civil Society Organisations At The Conclusion Of The 2005 Summit, Gleneagles, Scotland 6-8th July , http://allafrica.com/stories/200507090002.html

6'I Challenge Obasanjo to Publicly Declare His Assets' May 9, 2005, Jude Igbanoi, Lagos, http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=935