TONY BLAIR won crucial support from President Bush last night for a ground-breaking deal to wipe out the debts of the poorest African nations of up to $20 billion.

The pair also edged towards a breakthrough on aid at the G8 summit next month, despite British acceptance that the US would not sign up to one of its main funding ideas. “I am hopeful that we can get there,” Mr Blair said after a White House meeting.

Mr Bush committed himself to significant increases in US aid to Africa, raising hopes of a substantial deal when leaders arrive at Gleneagles on July 6 for the G8 summit of the world’s seven richest nations and Russia.

Mr Bush referred sceptics to the tripling of US aid to Africa since he came to office. “When I said we are going to help more, you can take that to the bank because of what we are doing,” he said.

He embraced the efforts of rockstars such as U2’s Bono, a campaigner on Africa, and said that the idea of bringing peace and prosperity to all corners of the continent was no pipe dream, adding: “I do believe we can eradicate poverty.”

Both leaders made clear, however, that large-scale increases in African aid would go only to those countries that showed that they were serious about tackling corruption and promoting open markets. “This is not a something-for-nothing deal,” Mr Blair said.

Mr Bush was less forthcoming about Mr Blair’s other G8 priority, curbing carbon emissions. And it remains to be seen whether his warm words are a catalyst to concrete agreement or if he was merely giving his war ally a day in the sun.

The Prime Minister has made Africa the centrepiece of Britain’s year in the rotating presidency of the G8. Hopes had dimmed in recent days that reality would fall well short of his ambitious goals of doubling aid to $50 billion (£27 billion) because the US refused to accept his proposed funding mechanism.

Mr Blair insisted that he was open to different US ideas on how an increase in aid might be achieved. British and American officials said that there was still much to play for in the weeks before Gleneagles. Mr Bush and Mr Blair said that they were close on agreeing a formula that would forgive 100 per cent of the debts of the world’s poorest countries.

A deal could be clinched as early as this weekend when G7 finance ministers meet, Mr Blair said. That would put enormous pressure on the eight leaders to thrash out a deal on aid to Africa when they meet or risk a huge public backlash.

Washington has been pressing for the costs of such a deal to be borne by the World Bank and other lending institutions, in effect reducing their ability to offer future aid.

Mr Blair spent the morning in talks at the British Ambassador’s residence with key US senators, who will need to push the details of any final agreement through Congress.

The White House responded to Mr Blair’s presence in Washington with a promise of $674 million of emergency funding for immediate famine relief in Africa. The money would be on top of $1.4 billion the US has already provided this year to help the UN to reach a goal of $4.5 billion.

British officials said they would be spending an extra $300 million.

It was also separate from the leaders’ current talks and was on top of any agreement to emerge from Gleneagles next month, Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said.

Charities denounced the new US money as a figleaf to spare Mr Blair’s embarrassment for failing to make more concrete progress on aid. Jonathan Glennie, a senior policy analyst with Christian Aid, said that Mr Bush’s offering of $674 million was “a drop in the ocean compared with what Africa really needs”. “Let us hope this is only his opening gambit and that Mr Bush comes to Gleneagles with a realistic and proper offer that will begin to match some of the expectations in Tony Blair’s Africa Commission,” he said Mr Blair said: “Of course this announcement is important and we welcome what the Administration has done, but there is a lot more that needs to be done.”

British officials said that Mr Blair was not deterred by Mr Bush’s flat refusal to back an International Finance Facility (IFF), a plan hatched by Gordon Brown that would allow governments to spend future aid money now. Diplomats said the IFF was only a means to an end and they believed that the US would come up with its own plans to boost support.

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