African donors pledge $351 million for drought crisis

African countries and donors pledged more than $350 million Thursday at a fund-raiser in the Ethiopian capital to help millions facing starvation in the Horn of Africas worst drought in decades.The African Development Bank offered $300 million to fund long-term projects, while African states and other private donors pledged $51 million, the African Union Commission chief Jean Ping announced.Ping initially said some $356 million had been promised, but later told reporters that the final figure was $351.7 million.This is the first time Africa is showing solidarity for an African cause, the blocs chairman and Equatorial Guineas President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said.Two years of failed rains has left 12.4 million people across the Horn of Africa in danger of starvation with war-torn Somalia the worst affected country in the region.Last month, the United Nations, for the first time this century, declared a state of famine in five Somali regions and said it could spread to engulf the countrys entire south.The drought has also left millions in parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda facing starvation.The fund-raising conference was the first of its kind by the pan-African body, which has so far pledged only $500,000 of the needed $2.4 billion (1.6 billion euros).However, only four heads state, -- Obiang, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Djiboutian President Ismael Omar Guelleh and Somali leader Sharif Sheikh Ahmed -- attended the Addis Ababa meeting.Asked whether he was disappointed by the low turnout by African leaders, Ping said: The first thing that is important is the figure ... So look at the amount and you will agree with me.We are very happy as a starting point, he added, noting that they had expected around $10 million in pledges.A pan-African fundraising campaign, Africans Act 4 Africa, had criticised African governments and the AU for not responding quickly enough to a crisis that worsened two months ago.