Wars in Africa wipe out aid gains

A report on armed conflict in Africa has shown that the cost to the continent's development over a 15-year period was nearly $300bn.

The research was undertaken by a number of non-governmental organisations, including Oxfam.

It says the cost of conflict was equal to the amount of money received in aid during the same period.

This is the first time analysts have calculated the overall effects of armed violence on development.

Between 1990 and 2005, 23 African nations were involved in conflict, and on average this cost African economies $18bn a year.

The researchers say that although the number of armed conflicts is falling in Africa there is no room for complacency, with little hope of a swift settlement in either Sudan or Somalia.

And some costs of war, such as increased military spending and a struggling economy continue long after the fighting has stopped.

Writing in the introduction, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says: "This is money that Africa can ill afford to lose... Thousands of hospitals, schools and roads could have been built".

The report concludes that African governments have taken encouraging steps at a regional level to control arms transfers, but that what is needed is a global, legally-binding arms trade treaty.