The G-8( the leaders of the 8 largest economies in the world) meeting in Scotland England from July 6 to July 8, 2005 pledged to double their aid to Africa by 2010. They also reaffirmed the earlier committement to cancel much the foreign debt of nine of Africa's poorest nations. This was the largest promise ever made by the industrial world to help Africas.

Prior to this meeting, the G-8 had made various commitments to assist developing nations, but the Gleneagles summit was particularly notable for its focus on Africa—a continent grappling with an array of challenges, including poverty, disease, and political instability. The summit was also heavily influenced by advocacy campaigns such as Make Poverty History and celebrity interventions, notably from individuals like Bono and Bob Geldof, who pushed for debt relief and increased aid.

Two significant outcomes of the summit were pledges to double aid to Africa to around $50 billion by 2010 and to cancel the debt of nine of Africa's poorest nations. The debt cancellation was done under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) and was an extension of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. These actions were designed to free up resources in the indebted countries so they could invest in social services like healthcare and education, thereby improving living conditions and stimulating economic growth.

However, the summit also faced criticisms. Some argued that the aid commitments were not legally binding and thus dependent on the political will of successive governments. Others pointed out that aid alone would not solve the systemic issues facing Africa, such as corruption, governance challenges, and trade imbalances. Moreover, there was scrutiny over how much of the pledged aid was "new money," as some governments appeared to be repackaging existing aid commitments.

Despite these criticisms, the Gleneagles commitments did bring attention to the urgent needs in Africa and created a framework for international cooperation. They paved the way for more focused discussions on development aid, trade justice, and poverty eradication in subsequent international forums.