Britain's finance minister Gordon Brown has called for a Marshall Plan to solve Africa's problems. According to today's London Observer:

[Brown said:] "...it's also going to be in our benefit in the long run for the developed countries to have a Marshall Plan for Africa." The West could benefit not only from trade with a flourishing Africa but increased security, with terrorism gaining a foothold on the continent, he suggested.

Mr Brown is right to want to deal with the problem of Africa's poverty. But given that Africa has already had the equivalent of six Marshall Plans, yet is still poor, it is clear that aid is a peripheral issue.

What is really needed for Africa is sustainable development, rather than more government-to-government transfers. We are seeing real success stories with microcredit which enables people to pull themselves and their communities out of poverty. 2005 is the UN International Year of Microcredit. Mr Brown's call for another African Marshall Plan may get him good publicity, but he would achieve more by thinking micro rather than macro.