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African Wars Cost $300B Over 15 Years

Fighting drained as much money as aid programs contributed

By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 11, 2007 8:39 AM CDT

(Newser) – Armed conflict in Africa over the last 15 years cost nearly $300 billion—equal to the total amount of  aid received by the continent—a report compiled by several NGOs concludes. Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who wrote the report's preface, says that a key move to counter poverty and spur development will be to "restrict the supply of guns to African conflict zones."

Even after the sooting stops, economic disruption and the need for steep military spending contribute to hinder African development. The report calls for a global arms treaty, saying that although the number of conflicts is declining, stubborn wars in Sudan and Somalia

Sudanese soldiers plunder for leftover goods at an African Union camp, Haskanita, northern Darfur, Sudan, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007. Rebel forces stormed a small African Union base in northern Darfur killing 10 peacekeepers from the beleaguered mission in an unprecedented attack that threatened key peace talks set for October. Several...
Sudanese soldiers plunder for leftover goods at an African Union camp, Haskanita, northern Darfur, Sudan, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007. Rebel forces stormed a small African Union base in northern Darfur killing...   (Associated Press)
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf arrives at the Accra International Conference Center for the final day of the African Union summit in Accra, Ghana Tuesday, July 3, 2007. The main official topic of debate at the three-day summit is a long-discussed, but elusive idea for a pan-African government, but crises...
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf arrives at the Accra International Conference Center for the final day of the African Union summit in Accra, Ghana Tuesday, July 3, 2007. The main official topic...   (Associated Press)
A militia member of warlord Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, right, look on as government soldiers arrive at Qanyare's compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, in this Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007 file photo. Eight months after the U.N.-backed government supported by troops from neighboring Ethiopia rolled into Mogadishu promising peace, divisions over...
A militia member of warlord Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, right, look on as government soldiers arrive at Qanyare's compound in Mogadishu, Somalia, in this Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007 file photo. Eight months after...   (Associated Press)
Somali Federal Government soldiers patrol a street of Mogadishu, Saturday, July 14, 2007.  Islamists in Somalia threatened Saturday to disrupt a peace conference this weekend, saying anyone who takes part is sentenced to death.   The threat came from the Shabab, the militant wing of an Islamic group that ruled much...
Somali Federal Government soldiers patrol a street of Mogadishu, Saturday, July 14, 2007. Islamists in Somalia threatened Saturday to disrupt a peace conference this weekend, saying anyone who takes...   (Associated Press)
A Ugandan African Union peacekeeping soldier stands guard, right, as Ethiopian soldiers walk past on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, Tuesday, May 1, 2007. The Security Council on Monday asked the U.N. chief to begin contingency planning to send U.N. peacekeepers back to Somalia for the...
A Ugandan African Union peacekeeping soldier stands guard, right, as Ethiopian soldiers walk past on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, Tuesday, May 1, 2007. The Security Council on Monday...   (Associated Press)
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