Campaigning rockers Bono and Bob Geldof today condemned the "miserable" failure of rich nations to fulfil pledges made on African aid.
The men's comments came as they challenged French president Nicolas Sarkozy to increase aid to Africa and accused France of failing to live up to commitments it made at a G8 summit in 2005.
Mr Geldof described the failure of nations to fulfil pledges made on African aid as a disgrace
The U2 frontman and the former Boomtown Rats singer, who played an active role in the Live 8concerts in support of aid and debt relief ahead of the summit, said failure by G8 leaders to keep their promises to the world's poorest was "a disgrace".
The G8 had agreed at Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005 to double aid to Africa by 2010.
But according to a report by advocacy group Data, published by the two men in Paris today, the G8 has so far delivered just 14 per cent of what was pledged.
"It's a disgrace that the rich world, France included, has failed so utterly and miserably," Geldof told a news conference.
The Data report says France is among the worst performers, having decreased aid to sub-Saharan Africa by $66 million between 2006 and 2007, and so far delivered less than 7 per cent of funds promised at Gleneagles.
"That's the measure of the failure of the political class of this country," said Geldof.
The report also says that of the seven countries that made commitments to Africa at Gleneagles, only Italy is doing worse than France with a net decrease in aid since 2005. The best performer is Japan, which has already fulfilled its pledges.
Geldof and Bono said it was particularly shocking for France to fall back considering its strong relationship with many African countries, rooted in the colonial past, and its history since the Revolution of 1789 as a champion of human rights.
The campaigners also singled out France because it is about to take over the rotating EU presidency and they hope a French aid surge could prompt the other European members of the G8, Germany, Britain and Italy, to do more as well.
"I have high hopes for President Sarkozy. I believe his hard-headedness might be necessary to work on some of these problems," said Bono.
During a trip to South Africa in January, Mr Sarkozy announced that France would double its "financial commitments" to Africa to €10 billion over five years, but Data said more clarity was needed over what exactly those commitments were.