DEAUVILLE, France — Rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab nations trying to establish true democracies, officials said at a Group of Eight summit Friday.
Officials didn’t fully detail the sources of the money or how it would be used, but the thrust was clearly to underpin democracy in Egypt and Tunisia — where huge public uprisings ousted autocratic regimes this year — and put pressure on tyrants in Syria and Libya.
The overall message from President Barack Obama and the other G8 leaders meeting in this Normandy resort appeared to be warning autocratic regimes in the Arab world that they will be shut out of aid and investment from wealthy nations, while new Arab Spring democracies are encouraged to open their economies.
On war-torn Libya, European leaders sought to wield a carrot and stick. French President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted NATO was ratcheting up military pressure against Moammar Khadafy’s embattled regime, just as British Prime Minister David Cameron said Libya could get a cut of aid — if Khadafy goes.
“This support will initially be available to Egypt and Tunisia, but will ultimately be there for any country that embraces the path to democracy and reform — and of course that could include, for example, Libya,” he said.
Tunisia’s finance minister said Sarkozy floated the $40 billion figure at talks Friday, in which the prime ministers of Tunisia and Egypt joined the G8 leaders to seek help after the uprisings scared away tourists and investors.
A French official said $40 billion is the overall goal but that breakdowns by country and timetables are under discussion. The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to his office policy.
A group statement from the G8 leaders said that $20 billion from international development banks could go to Egypt and Tunisia over the next three years. Another $10 billion is to come from Persian Gulf countries, and the rest in bilateral aid from other countries.
But a close look at the $20 billion package from international banks suggests that some aid is not all that different from previous money for the region — when autocrats, not democrats, were among the main beneficiaries.The European Investment Bank has since 2002 had a financing arm for projects in North Africa and Middle East countries.
Last year, EIB doled out a record $2.6 billion to the region. It’s planning $7.5 billion in aid to the region for the next three years.
Tunisia’s government said it was asking the G8 for $25 billion over the next five years, and Egypt says it will need between $10 to $12 billion for the fiscal year that begins in July to cover its mounting expenses.
