The Standard (Kenya) reports:

The Nepad Council yesterday asked the international community to stop offering aid to Africa, saying it was no solution to the continent's poverty. [Nepad Council supports the work of Nepad, a programme of the African Union.] Instead, the council said, the developed world should support increased investment by their firms in Africa. The president of the council, Dr Birahim Seck, said massive flow of aid to Africa over the 50 years had not make any impact on the poverty situation on the continent.

He urged African leaders to come up with workable strategies that can attract investment in key sectors such as information and communications technology (ICT).

"For the past 50 years, Africa has been dependent on aid and grants from international donors with only marginal change as far as development is concerned," Seck said.

"There is more poverty now, there are more diseases and the level of literacy is still low."...

Seck is a critic of Africa's reliance on aid and recently caused a stir at the European Union headquarters in Brussels when he told delegates at the European Programme on Investment (Proinvest) conference that Africa did not need their support.

"I told them that the best help and service they could provide to the continent is to encourage their company and business leaders to invest in Africa," he said.