Bob Geldof

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Bob Geldof "was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was the lead singer of the Dublin band, The Boomtown Rats, and has also recorded four solo albums. His music awards include Ivor Novellos, Brits and Grammies.

"In 1984, Geldof initiated the Band-Aid project, a charity for the victims of famine in Africa. In 1985 he organised the Live Aid concert and Sports Aid in 1986, and established the Band-Aid Trust to administer the $150,000,000 raised. Band-Aid continues to operate in eight African countries. In 1986, he was awarded a Knighthood for this work, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.

"More recently, he has been a vocal supporter of Jubilee 2000, the worldwide movement to cancel third world debt, and in 2001 was involved in setting up DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), a lobby group focused on generating more resources and better policy for African countries."[citation needed]

Affiliations

"He is also currently writing an amendment to family law, where he is an outspoken and eloquent campaigner for improving fathers' rights. Geldof has a number of different business interests, and in 1991, founded Planet 24, one of the largest independent production companies in the UK. He is currently founder and chair of 10 Alps Broadcasting." [1]

Criticism

"Bob Geldof to front African private equity fund"

In September 2010 it was reported that: "The influential rockstar has teamed up with Mark Florman, a former executive at Doughty Hanson, and Gordon Moore, formerly of Cinven. The former private equity duo will run the fund, which aims to become one of the biggest private equity investors in Africa.

"The fund has been named 8 Miles – the distance between the southern tip of Europe and northern Africa...

"Philip Pritchard, a broker with Credit Lyonnais in Asia who is a friend of Mr Geldof, and Simon Hall, a London-based headhunter, are thought to have helped pull the plans together.

"The team have already secured backing from the African Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation." [8]

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"The fund, called 8 Miles, intends to make about 20 investments of between $15m and $80m in agribusinesses, financial services and telecommunications...

"Among others that Mr Geldof has approached for advice on the venture are Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese-born telecoms tycoon turned philanthropist, and Arki Busson, the founder of hedge fund EIM. He has also discussed his plans with Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who sits with Mr Geldof on the Africa Progress Panel, monitoring donor commitments towards increased aid to Africa." [9]

GM Crop Ambassador

The Guardian reports:

Europe's largest and most influential biotech industry group, whose members include Monsanto, Bayer and other GM companies, is recruiting high-profile "ambassadors" to lobby European leaders on GM policy. Leaked documents from a PR company working for Brussels-based EuropaBio claim to have "had interest" from Sir Bob Geldof; the chancellor of Oxford University and BBC Trust chairman, Lord Patten; former Irish EU commissioner and attorney general David Byrne, and "potentially" the involvement of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and pro-GM science writer Mark Lynas.[10]

In the same article, Geldof denied involvement.

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. Bob Geldof, Commission for Africa, accessed November 26, 2007.
  2. About, Castaway Television Productions, accessed July 16, 2010.
  3. Who we are, Aegis Trust, accessed May 31, 2010.
  4. About, One Young World, accessed January 8, 2011.
  5. About, Africa Progress Panel, accessed January 13, 2011.
  6. Live 8 DVD gets premiere launch, BBC, accessed January 13, 2011.
  7. Team, Groupcall, accessed February 3, 2015.
  8. Bob Geldof to front African private equity fund, , accessed January 7, 2011.
  9. William Wallis and Martin Arnold, “Geldof seeks $1bn for African investment,” Financial Times, September 2, 2010.
  10. John Vidal and Hanna Gersmann, Biotech group bids to recruit high-profile GM 'ambassadors', 20 October 2011.
  11. Global Research: Centre for Research on Globalization, "Live 8: Corporate Media Bonanza - Disinformation Campaign and Public Relations Stunt on behalf of the G8", 5 July 2005