Angry and passionate, Bono blends charm and concern on African tour reports Clar Ni Chonghaile of Associated Press.
ACCRA, Ghana
Bono leans back in his car seat. His shirt is stained with large patches of sweat, his boots are dusty. He has been talking to Ghanaians at a trade fair for over an hour, but he is still eager to discuss Africa's desperate need for aid.
He is also angry after visiting the run-down district of Nima in Ghana'scoastal capital Accra. There, malaria runs rife, there is no running water,and the poverty-stricken residents have to pay to go to the toilet. "I gotall kinds of mixed feelings. Agitation ...quite angry. I'm getting angrieras the day goes on. I cannot believe that this is a world I want to be partof," he said Tuesday.
"Nima is the real world. It's where the full force of the free market isbeing felt. I thought they should be throwing rocks at us," he said.
It was the end of a long day and the first of many. Bono is in Africa for a10-day tour with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. The trip is billed bythe U.S. administration as a fact-finding mission, that comes on the heelsof a new commitment to boost aid to Africa.
For the lead singer of U2, the trip is more like a mission.
"The aim of the trip is to show Secretary O'Neill effective aid and what itcan do," he said. "These people in Africa don't have much time for us todress up for the debate, as important as that may be."
Bono and O'Neill may be sharing a plane on their tour through Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia, but that does not mean they share opinions on how best to help these countries.
Bono acknowledges that he is learning from the silver-haired 66-year-old,who has criticized past anti-poverty programs in Africa, saying they failedto generate real development and so wasted billions of dollars.
"He's shown me stuff. The trade fair was his idea. He believes in privateenterprise. I've explained to him that in some parts of Africa people aretoo sick to be part of the work force. There is a poverty trap," he said.
O'Neill did not visit Nima with Bono. He was giving a speech to theAmerican Chamber of Commerce, but the duo will be together again onWednesday, flying to the northern town of Tamale to talk to villagers.
The pragmatic O'Neill says he is in Africa not to preach but to listen.However, he does already have some strong ideas about what needs to bedone.
"I think that the solution to poverty is jobs," he told the American Chamberof Commerce on Tuesday. "I'm more interested myself in seeing that fundsflow where opportunity is going to be created."
After his visit to Nima, Bono was more concerned with what he calledhuman rights - the right to clean water, and to primary education. He saysthat until these rights are assured, debt forgiveness for poor countriesmust continue.
"Whilst these are not available, we should not, must not and cannot collectthese old debts. We must make sure in terms of trade that there is a levelplaying field," he said.
The 42-year-old pop icon has long campaigned to get the Group of Eight top industrial countries to provide greater debt relief for the world's poorest countries. He is the co-founder of the DATA - Debt, Trade, Aid for Africa.
During his first day in Ghana, Bono told President John Kufuor that he wasa fan of the country, and its "dignified and smart" people.
"Ghana is in a position to leap ahead. If it doesn't and if theinternational community doesn't bring common sense and cash to bear, all the good will you see latent in the people will be taken advantage of by other extremist philosophers that will turn us into their enemies," he said later.
The fact that Bono is such an outspoken advocate for aid does not seem tohave dampened his star appeal. At the trade fair, people were thrilled tohave their photos taken with him, and others shyly asked for autographs.
"He's a rock star, and people get very excited when you go places with him," O'Neill said. "But he is also very smart and he cares about people a lot."
Smart and straight-talking. Bono was blunt about what he ultimately wants.
"It's time for action and I am convinced that we will see a historicinitiative on AIDS within a year. I am confident we will see debts ofcountries performing well against corruption further canceled or fullycanceled ... and a serious increase in aid," he said.
