Interesting book/thinker on the futility of donor funding..
DEAD AID
Dambisa Moyo here (Guardian interview) and here (Amazon link to the book) and here (FT interview).
Thursday, February 19, 2009
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7 comments:
Her vision looks good but isn't that the same thing Babangida tried to do with SAP?
Brilliant piece! Ms. Moyo seems to understand the dynamics of the African condition and I agree with a lot of what she is saying. I like the fact that she does not claim to possess all the answers, however, her ideas/thinking will force African leaders to rethink their positions and how they let the West determine thier growth and importance in the World's economy field.
Her book is now a required reading!
Not trying to be critical, But isn't this a case of trying to reinvent the wheel? i mean how many so called scholars have come before thiis woman and said basically the same thing?
this position is not new?
I have worked on the ground in a government ministry, namely local government. I can say without any doubt that aid has made a difference to a lot of the people that I have worked with.
Anyway , i guess we are all allowed our 15 minute of fame!
She sounds a lot like a younger, hipper version of George Ayittey. The West loves this kind of politics.
Its fresh to know of an African woman thinker applying her gift this way. However, the message is neither original, nor particularly illuminating.
We are told (by the article writer, paraphrasing Moyo et al) "More than $1 trillion has been sent to Africa over the last 50 years".
This is incorrect. Because as they writer acknowledges a paragraph or two down - "Like many of us who grew up in Africa (in my case, Ethiopia, where, she claims, 97% of the government budget is attributed to foreign aid), she saw the aid economy in action - the flash 4x4s, the high salaries, the foreign workers living cushioned lives on nice exchange rates."
Much aid money is 'returned to sender'
It would be more accurate to say the money had been 'spent on Africa' or rather, 'in the name of Africa', than 'sent to Africa'.
In the end Moyo misses the real point.
Whilst capitalism is the worst best economic paradigm, no doubt. The Western-industrial interpretation of it - high consumption to drive growth, is a complete disaster.
Capitalism as we know it today has destroyed the environment, decimated peoples, cultures and social systems (many of which were inherently richer and more appropriate than the Western option).
Ultimately this is perhaps where Moyo falls short (says he, having not read the book) - she is still trying to 'fix' the current system, rather than making the lateral leap, which begins by questioning its validity.
What Africa needs, in addition to a better aid regime (I agree with her on that, of course), is a fundamental re-interpretaion of development as a whole.
What is the point trying to make Lusaka like London, when we know that London is unsustainable, anyway?!
Those who have not spent much time thinking seriously about development may find Moyo startling and fresh, controversial even. If this interview is a true reflection of 'The Book', she is neither.
ah ah... oga anonymous... if you read careful she said how it was old info.. how her parents kept saying ' but everyone knows that' but there were other things there too.
J
it all boils down to another of the big C's - consumerism of which i am afraid the writer seems guilty of. The credit crunch will hopefully enable some of us put things in perspectives and separate our wants from needs. The west is greedy; but our african leaders - i lack words to describe them, but i'll begin with evil... they know not what leadership means. the writer shld start from there; good leadership and a leader who is committed to serve his pple - he will thry his will and conscience negotiate the best deal as we all do for our individual families. We as africans should try and cleanse ourselves from colo mentality and stop worshipping the west. i guess all these sounds illogical but i hope you find some logic within - i am no economist but i understand Greed AND Evil wrapped up in packages...
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