Tony Blair and Gordon Brown launched a multi-billion pound rescue plan for Africa today, which will form the backbone of Britain's presidency of the G8 group.

The Prime Minister has staked much of his reputation on the effectiveness of the series of radical measures which demand the West dismantles all trade barriers, cancels the continent's debt and donates an extra £26 billion ($50 billion) a year in aid.

Mr Blair claims that the report from his Commission for Africa is the most ambitious for a generation, but he has only five months to put it into practice.

At its launch in London today, he said: "In a world where prosperity is increasing and more people are sharing each year in its growing wealth, it is an obscenity that should haunt our daily thoughts that four million children will die in Africa this year before their fifth birthday.

"Africa can change for the better and the report shows how. The issue now is do we together, in Africa and amongst the wealthy nations of the world, have the will to change Africa for the better?"

The report was the work of 17 commissioners, appointed by Mr Blair a year ago, who include Bob Geldof and senior African politicians, such as the President of Tanzania, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and the South African Finance Minister.

The influence of the commissioners is reflected in the strong emphasis on Western culpability: stamping out bribery by Western companies; returning billions of dollars of looted African money in foreign bank accounts; and the "scandal" of EU and American trade protections.

In his forward to the 460-page report, Mr Blair himself acknowledged that the clock is already ticking to secure support for it at the meeting of the G8, which he is to chair in Scotland in July. Both Mr Blair and the Chancellor have given personal commitments to securing vast Western funding, a matter of integrity for the men who want to see improvements in Africa as part of their political legacy.

The Prime Minister said: "We have been frank about corruption and conflict but we are also frank in our criticism of the rich countries about how they have failed to fulfil their promises on aid and trade."

But Mr Blair said there were new opportunities for Africa, and he hoped in ten years time its economy would have expanded, and democracy would be "on the march into every corner of the continent".

He went on: "Whether this happens is down to all of us."

Mr Brown added: "Africa is a continent ripe for progress at a moment of opportunity but tragically weighed down by poverty, conflict and disease."

Mr Geldof, the musician behind Band Aid and Live Aid, was typically more succinct.

He said: "Tony and Gordon have to prepare to ring up George [Bush] and say 'do this, George, do this one thing for me, it’s going to cost you f***-all, do it for me'.

"Hopefully with the relationship that exists between Blair and Bush he will be able to go to the president and ask for this to bo done."

The report avoids making aid dependent on good governance — saying simply that countries will be chosen for investment if they can show "resources will be well used". It suggests that the Western emphasis on trade as the way forward is misplaced. Infrastructure must come first, it states, before Africa has something to trade. Better roads, hospitals and education are also the key to helping Aids sufferers.

The World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, said that the bank strongly endorsed the report, adding that it was ready to scale up its assistance.

It was warmly received by aid agencies, but their focus has already shifted to whether any of it can be translated into action.

Adrian Lovett, campaigns director for Oxfam, said: "A report can't be radical - what's radical is action. The key thing for us is that we see real steps in the next few weeks to deal with the issues it raises."

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the calls for urgent reform echoed the continent’s own agenda and should be embraced.

He said: "The report is based on what Africa has already said it wants to do to get out of the quagmire it finds itself in. Such a report cannot but be infused with an African spirit. It is ultimately up to us to ensure its implementation. Nothing and nobody can do for us what we must do for ourselves."

Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, said he hoped the report "will indeed serve the purpose for which it was intended".

Airy Mamiarson, an economics lecturer from Madagascar, was less optimistic and suggested that rich countries "just stick to the promises they have already made."

If the plan fails - and an innovative finance scheme has already been rejected by the United States - it is not only the credibility of Mr Blair and Mr Brown as international statesmen is at risk.

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