Australia plans to spend more than 200 million Australian dollars (USD163.8 million) in Africa for the 2010-2011 financial year. The amount represents a 23 percent increase from the approximately 164 million Australian dollars allocated for Africa in the current financial year, 2009-2010, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance Bob McMullan said.
Australia’s aid to Africa will be spent primarily on education, agriculture, maternal health, and water and sanitation, McMullan explained.
This Africa funding increase forms part of the plan to boost Australia’s overall aid budget to 4.3 billion Australian dollars in the next financial year, he added.
Meanwhile, senior AusAID officials said the country plans to invest up to 400 million Australian dollars in Africa over the next five years, the Herald Sun reports.
McMullan and the AusAID officials’ announcements came as Australia’s opposition party called for an inquiry into the country’s aid program, the newspaper notes.
Critics of the government’s aid program have noted that the increase is tied to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s plan to gain a United Nations Security Council seat for Australia, according to Herald Sun.
