1 in 3 African countries ineligible for AIDS loans

Three of the countries hit hardest by the AIDS pandemic in Africa – Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe – are among 15 African countries currently ineligible for funding through the World Bank’s $500 mn Multi-Country AIDS Programme (MAP) for Africa. MAP offers low-interest loans for HIV/AIDS research, prevention and treatment projects for African countries through the Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which provides concessional financing to countries unable to borrow on commercial capital markets. At the programme’s launch on 12 September, World Bank President James Wolfensohn noted that MAP fulfilled an earlier commitment to expand funding for HIV efforts. "Last April we promised that no sensible AIDS program in Africa would want for funding," he said. "Today, we deliver on that promise."

With 1 in 4 Zimbabweans estimated to be infected with the deadly virus, and a per capita income of less than $600, Zimbabwe was considered likely to be an early beneficiary of the MAP programme. However, the country was placed on "non-accrual" status on 3 October, when it missed a deadline for a $47 mn payment on $889 mn in outstanding Bank loans and credits. When that happened, Bank officials told Africa Recovery, Zimbabwe became ineligible for any additional financing, including through MAP, until it clears the arrears.

Botswana and South Africa do not qualify under IDA guidelines because they have per capita gross domestic products above the facility’s permitted maximum of $885. Seven other countries — Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles and Swaziland — also are deemed too prosperous to qualify. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Liberia, Somalia and Sudan – like Zimbabwe – are ineligible because they too are delinquent on previous World Bank loans.

Some African governments, already overburdened with foreign debt, have been reluctant to borrow further to finance HIV/AIDS programmes. In early October, Zambian Health Minister David Mpamba announced that Zambia would join Malawi in refusing to apply for World Bank AIDS loans. Zambia wanted to ease its debt obligations, he said, and borrowing to finance AIDS projects "would not help" in that regard. Instead of new loans, "What we want now is for the World Bank to facilitate the price reductions of AIDS drugs so that the drugs are made available to many people." A US government offer of $1 bn in commercial loan guarantees for the purchase of US-made anti-AIDS drugs has, to date, found no African takers.