Reuters: Global Fund Concerned About Funding Targets
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria wants up to $30 billion next year to replenish its coffers, but is worried a new funding drive will lag behind growing demand, the fund’s executive director said yesterday. The recession in the United States and other G8 countries, coupled with demand that has “quadrupled” with the growth of the AIDS epidemic, has raised concerns about whether rich countries would meet elevated funding targets. The executive director said funding should be available if the G8 countries honor their commitments to double aid to Africa to $25 billion a year by 2010.

The Times (London): Simple HIV Drug Therapy ‘Could Save Thousands in Africa’
The findings of the Development of ART (DART) trial – the biggest HIV therapy trial in Africa – suggest that HIV treatment strategies should be radically revised to widen access. It is estimated that about 6 million of the 20 million Africans with HIV could benefit from ART drugs, but only about 2 million currently receive them. At present, patients who receive ART have regular tests to monitor side effects of the drugs. These tests add an extra $900 to the bill for treating a patient for five years, yet have no significant survival benefit, the DART trial found. Hundreds of thousands more Africans with HIV could be treated without extra spending if blood tests for monitoring side effects are abandoned, the trial said.

Foreign Policy: Aiding the Future: Does US Foreign Assistance Really Work?
Foreign Policy reports that international-development circles in Washington are abuzz with hope that U.S. foreign-aid policy might finally be getting an overhaul. It says that critics have long complained that U.S. assistance comes with too many conditions and that too much of the money goes to U.S. companies and consultants. But now, those same ideas are coming from the government itself. The magazine held a discussion with Oxfam America in which prominent Africans from civil society, the media, and government were asked to share what is and is not working with regard to U.S. policies.

Financial Times: Kenyan Corruption is Brought to Book
The Financial Times writes about the popularity of Michaela Wrong’s book It’s Our Turn to Eat in Kenya. Most Kenyan booksellers are too afraid to sell it, but the information has been spreading through unusual routes. The US embassy in Nairobi has masterminded a guerrilla distribution program to challenge the political elite by promoting the exposé of its failings. The aim is to get 5,000 copies on to the streets via vendors of the Nairobi Star newspaper, church organizations, radio stations and PeaceNet, a group of reform activists. USAID is also funding readings of the book.

FT: Nigeria Offers Militants Amnesty and Cash
The Nigerian government is offering cash and allowances to persuade militants to lay down their weapons and accept an amnesty intended to halt violence in the oil-producing Niger delta. Militants who turn in their weapons during a 60-day window that begins on August 6 will be granted a monthly stipend of 20,000 naira ($134). This would be supplemented by a daily food allowance that is well above what most Nigerians live on. The collapse of the crude oil price and the decline in production as a result of the violence have strained government finances and caused Nigeria to lose its position as Africa’s top oil producer. More than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s export earnings are derived from oil.

-Grace Lamb-Atkinson