O’Neill, Bono to Tour Four African Nations Next Month to Discuss Development, HIV/AIDS
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Irish rock star Bono will tour four African nations next month to assess a "variety of development projects," including some aimed at HIV/AIDS, Reuters reports (Reuters, 4/23). According to a Treasury Department statement, the trip, which begins on May 20, will "highlight efforts to enhance the effectiveness of development assistance, the importance of increasing productivity through investment in human capital and the role of the private sector as an engine for economic growth." It will also promote the Bush administration's Millenium Challenge Account, an assistance program for developing nations (Dow Jones International News, 4/23). O'Neill will visit Ghana, South Africa and Uganda and will then end his trip in Ethiopia, where he will attend the annual meeting of the African Development Bank before returning to the United States on May 31. Bono will accompany him for most of the trip (Reuters, 4/23). In South Africa, O'Neill is expected to meet with business leaders and representatives from the nation's financial sector to discuss the economy and how South Africa is "coping" with the HIV/AIDS epidemic (Dow Jones International News, 4/23).
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