Shocking Indifference Of African Leaders

If African leaders won't help their own, why should anybody help them at all?  From the Independent:

African leaders have come under fierce criticism after a much-delayed African Union summit to tackle the food crisis in the Horn of Africa raised less than 4 per cent of the shortfall needed. Only four heads of state – from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea – attended the meeting, designed to gather urgently needed funds to help save the nearly 13 million people now at risk of starvation on the continent.

Only 21 out of the 54 countries in the AU made pledges, with $20m of the $46m promised coming from three states – Algeria, Angola and Egypt. Aid groups say they need $1.4bn to meet the shortfall in tackling the emergency. Jean Ping, chairman of the AU commission, announced the summit had raised more than $350m, but the bulk of the sum was in fact a $300m loan from the African development bank and not a grant at all.

 On top of this, the African Union is still dragging its feet in recognizing the National Transitional Council in Libya.  Many are even suspicious that members of the AU are still secretly backing the Libyan dictator, as his whereabouts continue to be unknown.