Posted on July 14, 2006

Some Question Whether African Aid Helps

Donna Bryson, AP, July 10, 2006

When the world’s richest nations promised to double aid to the poorest, most of them in Africa, at least one African was appalled. And not because he thought the pledges were too little or would never be realized. He thought they were too much.

“The best thing the West can do is to do nothing for Africa,” Andrew Mwenda, a Ugandan writer and radio host, said during a recent visit to Britain, which a year ago chaired the Group of Eight summit at which those ambitious aid pledges were made.

“Throwing money at African dictators cannot be a solution to ending poverty,” said Mwenda. He charged that democracy in Africa had been stalled by aid, because leaders focused on responding to donors, not their own citizens.

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“Theoretically, Africa doesn’t need aid. But, practically, you can’t stop it. It would be interpreted as being stingy, being cold, in the face of massive suffering in Africa,” he said. “We are not saying that Africa should not be helped. But let’s help Africa in a smart way.”

Some of what aid skeptics have been saying for years appeared to have informed the report of the Commission for Africa, an international board assembled by British Prime Minister Tony Blair before last year’s summit.

The commission acknowledged that Africa’s poverty had worsened despite decades of international aid, and called for more effective aid in the future. It also pressed African governments to fight corruption and be more responsive to their citizens.

“There’s huge amount of selfishness by the elite” who run some African governments, said Moeletsi Mbeki, a South African businessman and deputy chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs. Mbeki, the brother of South African President Thabo Mbeki, said donors should bypass such governments.

“Africa is a very rich continent, we are very well-endowed in terms of resources. But we have had a very non-performing leadership in Africa, which is why the people keep getting poorer,” Mbeki said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg.

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