Dambisa Moyo doesn’t speak for Africa- Former Ghanaian president
Dambisa
Aid is necessary. Aid works. People like Dambisa Moyo, the Zambian economist who in her controversial book Dead Aid proposed phasing out development aid to Africa in five years, “don’t know what the reality in Africa looks like”.
That was the message John Kufuor, who was president of Ghana from January 2001 until January 2009, came to deliver to a congress held in The Hague on Saturday on the occasion of ‘60 years of development aid’. Also present was the Dutch development aid minister, Bert Koenders (Labour).
Less money around
Koenders needs people like Kufuor more than ever. Faced with dwindling political support, Koenders has had to announce some serious cuts in the development budget this year. Less money, fewer recipients, seems to be the new slogan. And because Koenders’ budget is also linked to the gross national product, it is set to decrease even more under the impact of the economic crisis.
John Kufuor has a reputation for integrity. Under his presidency Ghana became an example for the rest of Africa. The economy grew considerably, and the political situation stabilised. Moreover, Kufuor did not try to extend his rule but left quietly when his second term as president was up. When US president Barack Obama visited Africa last July he chose Ghana to spread his message of good governance in Africa.
“I worry that development aid is decreasing,” Kufuor told NRC Handelsblad. “Of course the donor countries have to monitor case by case to see that the money is well spent. Donor countries have to get their money’s worth.”
One example of a successful project, according to Kufuor, is a school meals programme in his own Ghana. For the past four years Ghana has been aiming to provide each pupil under 15-years old with one hot meal a day. More than 600,000 children are now part of the programme, which is supported by the Netherlands.
Too docile?
Critics have reproached Kufuor for being too docile towards institutions like the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). During Kufuor’s first term Ghana joined the HIPC programme for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. It provides debt relief and low-interest loans in return for which countries have to bring inflation under control and get their state finances in order. An often heard criticism of the HIPC programme is that the budget cuts that go with it often come at the expense of the poorest citizens of those countries.
“Ghana has become less dependent [on aid] since I took office,” Kufuor defended himself. “It was thanks to the debt relief that we were able to get a market economy off the ground. Consequently, credit rating agencies like Standard&Poors and Fitch raised our rating. We were able to raise 750 million dollars in government bonds on the international market, which allowed us to invest in health care and the infrastructure.”
Kufuor had to admit that the government bonds have recently taken a hit because of the worldwide economic crisis. Ghana even had to go back to the World Bank for help. But Kufuor is not discouraged. “Compare it to a baby that is learning to walk. It’s trial and error. In 2001 Ghana was bankrupt. Last year, when the world’s strongest economies were suffering from the crisis, Ghana still managed 7.3 percent growth.”
Kagame
Kufuor said he agrees with Rwandan president Paul Kagame, who believes the ultimate goal of development aid should be to make itself redundant. But he strongly disagrees with Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, who also happens to have Kagame’s ear.
Moyo says aid to Africa should be cut entirely because it only leads to inertia and corruption. A graduate from Harvard and Oxford, who has worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs, Moyo has become the darling of the critics of development aid since the publication of her book, Dead Aid, earlier this year.
John Kufuor with president Rupiah Banda in Lusaka
“Mrs. Moyo is not the voice of Africa,” Kufuor said. “She lives in an ivory tower, far away from the reality of Africa. Perhaps she should go back to Zambia to see how much that country still needs help. Maybe then I will pay better attention to her.”
It was during her studies at Harvard that she first started wondering why Africa is the only continent that is forever struggling. Later, as she was working on her thesis at Oxford, she tried to figure out why poor Asian countries like South Korea or Thailand managed to join the world of emerging nations when no African country did. For the next eight years, she worked for the US investment bank Goldman Sachs. Gradually her conviction grew stronger: Africa will never get on its feet unless it makes a clean break with the system of development aid.
It is aid itself that is keeping Africa poor. This in a nutshell, is the argument Moyo develops in the first half of her book, Dead Aid, which came out last month. She is referring only to government aid, not to emergency humanitarian aid or charity. “Development aid simply doesn’t work,” she says. “It was supposed to lead to sustainable economic growth and a reduction of poverty. Name one African country where this has happened.”
Dead Aid caused a sensation in Great Britain. Here was a young, successful, educated African woman trespassing in a world dominated by middle-aged white men. Economist like William Easterley and Jeffrey Sachs. Rock stars like Bono and Bob Geldof. What’s more: she was arguing for pulling the plug on development aid.
“The danger is that this book will get more attention than it deserves,” wrote The Guardian. “Her proposal to phase out aid in five years is disastrously irresponsible: it would lead to the closure of thousands of schools and clinics across Africa, and an end to the HIV antiretroviral, malaria and TB programmes, along with emergency food supplies, on which millions of lives depend.
In The Independent , Paul Collier, a renowned development expert and Moyo’s former mentor, wrote that “Moyo is to development aid what Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to Islam,” a reference to the Dutch-Somali politician whose critique of Islam has forced her into hiding. Like Hirsi Ali, she is criticizing the system from the inside.
Moyo is unfazed by the criticism. “I don’t see why Bono should be the one to determine Africa’s economic policy,” she says during a hurried fried squid lunch in Oxford. She is due at a reading shortly, and later tonight she is a guest on Newsnight, the popular BBC current affairs programme, together with Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi who developed the concept of microcredit.
She speaks fast, without pausing for breath. “I am fairly aggressive,” she admits. Asked about her age, she offers instead that the average life expectancy in her country of birth is between 36 and 37. “I have passed that particular milestone.”
If most people have focused on the first half of her book, Moyo herself thinks the really explosive material is in the second half. There she offers African government a series of tools to balance their budgets without the need for development aid: issue government bonds; attract foreign investment; boost exports by concentrating on emerging markets like India or China; put remittance, the money sent home by Africans living abroad, to good use… “It’s not rocket science,” she says. “Other countries have done it with success.”
Your verdict about development aid is pretty harsh.
Moyo: “I’m really not saying anything new. In fact, I’m plagiarising. I quote other people’s research. As early as the sixties, Peter Bauer, the development economist, was describing development aid as ‘a tax on poor people in rich countries that benefits rich people in poor countries’. He was ignored. In the world of development aid it is not a secret that it just doesn’t work. But aid organisations and celebrities like Bob Geldof are keeping the myth alive. My own family suffers the consequences of development aid every day.”
What are those consequences then?
“First and foremost the widespread corruption. The people in power plunder the treasury and the treasury is filled with development aid money. The corruption has contaminated the whole of society. Aid leads to bureaucracy and inflation, to laziness and inertia. Aid hurts exports. Thanks to foreign aid the people in power can afford not to care about their people. But the worst part of it is: aid undermines growth. The economies of those countries that are the most dependent on foreign aid have shrunk by an average of 0.2 percent per year ever since the seventies.”
But surely donor countries have checks and balances. They demand good governance.
“But at the end of the day they let the African countries get away with it. World Bank research has shown that 85 percent of development aid was used for other than the intended purpose. Donor countries are propping up the most corrupt regimes. From 1980 until 1996, 72 percent of World Bank aid went to countries that did not abide by the rules. The need for donor countries to just keep on giving appears to be insatiable.”
So why do Western countries keep on giving if it doesn’t help?
“The cynical answer is: because it distracts attention from the trade barriers they have erected in order to protect employment in the West. These trade barriers cost Africa an estimated 500 billion dollars every year. That’s ten times the amount Africa is given in development aid. And because they secretly don’t believe that Africa is ever going to pull it together. They feel sorry for the Africans. So they buy themselves a conscience.
But hasn’t Africa progressed enormously at the social level? In 1960, fifty percent of children went to school. Now that’s 82 percent. Child mortality has dropped by more than half in the past thirty years. Don’t you care about this?
“You can pay school fees for a 12-year-old girl. You can makes sure she has an education. You can say: look what development aid can accomplish. But what good is that for the girl is she can’t find a job after she leaves school? Because they are no jobs to be had. Every time I go home to Zambia, there are more street children. They can read, they can write, they speak English. And the only thing they can do to make a living is to hustle. More and more parents in the countryside are keeping their children out of school. If there are no jobs in the cities anyway, they say, the children might as well start working on the land right away.”
But isn’t pulling the plug on development aid a recipe for mass mortality?
“Only the elite will feel the pain. The poor won’t even notice the difference. It’s not like they ever saw any of that money anyway.”
Development aid experts like to point out that for decades the rich nations have used development aid as a weapon in the cold war, as an instrument of foreign policy. Unlike you, They plead for more and better direct aid.
“So where are we going to direct the aid now? In the sixties aid was supposed to be used for big infrastructure projects. In the seventies it was poverty. In the eighties it was structural changes and financial stabilisation. In the nineties it was democratisation and good governance. In the past sixty years 1.000 billion dollars in development aid has gone to Africa with nothing to show for it. How many times do we have reincarnate development aid before we can admit that it’s just not working?
Rwandan president Paul Kagame has approached you because he too would like to get rid of development aid.
“The president has been critical of development aid repeatedly in the past. But he is still dependent on it for 70 percent of his budget. He read an article about me in the Financial Times during a flight. He saw a chance to rid Rwanda from development aid. He wanted me to come to Rwanda right away. I was to meet with his ministers, who would then spend the weekend debating development aid.
“We discussed how to get a credit rating report as a country, how to sell government bonds, how to attract foreign investors, how to find new trade partners… ‘Just imagine,’ I wrote in my book, ‘that one by one African governments would get a phone call from the donor countries: “We’re phasing out your development aid over the next five years.”‘ An adviser to president Kagame told me: ‘We want to be the ones to make that phone call.’”
Do you expect other African countries to follow Rwanda’s example?
“Most African leaders find it much more convenient to just cash the development cheque every year. This way they don’t have to take action. They can do whatever they want. There is no one to call them to account.”
Paul Collier, your old professor at Harvard and Oxford, thinks you are far too optimistic about African countries getting access to world financial markets.
“With all due respect but I have worked in the financial markets. I know what investors want. It is not an easy road to take. But it’s possible. The reward is sustainable growth.
“I grew up in a country where every kind of initiative was either dismissed or suppressed. They can’t. They won’t. I’m fed up. Let’s try something new. Because the old approach clearly doesn’t work.”
Isn’t this the worst possible time to try a new approach now that the credit crunch has paralysed the financial markets?
“These are challenging times. But it’s not because the American and European markets are out of reach that all markets are. There are gigantic financial reserves in China and the Middle East just screaming for investment opportunities. And even if the markets are closed, all the more reason for African countries to start preparing for when they open up again. This apocalyptic situation isn’t going to last forever. So go practise your roadshow for investors. Why should they invest in your country and not another? Your answer is going to have to be convincing.”
Paul Collier also feels that you underestimate the specific problems of Africa.
“The problems of Africa are gigantic: they are historical, geographic, tribal. But there is nothing we can do about that. Should we just resign ourselves to the fact that Africa will never develop? How much longer are we going to keep using colonialism as an excuse? Can we finally move on?”
Another one of your old professors, Jeffrey Sachs, is proposing to double development aid to Africa to 100 billion dollars per year.
“I don’t get that. I think it’s hypocritical. At Harvard he was always saying that Russia, Poland and Bolivia had to adapt to the free market even if it was going to hurt. But when it comes to Africa, he has a whole other recipe. Is he saying that Africa is fundamentally different from the rest of the world? Is he saying that Africa will never get it together? Is he saying there is something terribly wrong with this continent? I would love to debate him. His arguments are emotional. They have little to do with economics or logic.
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Dambisa, is not the right person to speake about AID and it’s impact on africa, because she was born with silver spoon in her mouth that’s why she been able to go that much in her academic…in Zambia she went to the best schools, and in the USA went to the best school too HARVED , to which most Americans citizen failure to go not because they are brainless, it’s due to dearestic of the Harved Unversity. When Obama was compaigning he talked about the loans he took as a student to pay for his school! Dambisa was actually richer than the current president of the USA…she does not owe anyone, she has never told us how she paid for her . There are lot of Smart kids in Zambia that are only able to finish basic school with the help of AID. She should know that Africa is Angry…she is just of the so called educated that do not understand the pain the poor go through, those who work in the Govt are robbing the poor at great deal. If the govt of Zambia paid , then she owe the TAX PAYER of ZAMBIA. Or she the product of corruption. Today, a lot of the kids whose parent on the epic of corruption are in the west were they are messing up african resource. She should go back to her country…if she thinks has an idea to help that shrinking country.
Dambisa, is not the right person to speake about and it’s impact on africa, because she was born with silver spoon in her mouth that’s why she been able to go that much in her academic…in Zambia she went to the best school and in the USA went to the best school, to which in the Americans citizen failure to go because they are brainless it’s due to dearestic of the Harved Unoversity. When Obama was compaigning he talked the loans he took as a student to pay for his school! Dambisa was actually richer than the current president of the USA…she does not owe, she has never told us how she paid for her . There are lot of Smart kids in Zambia that are only able to finish basic school with the help of AID. She should know that Africa is Angry…she is just of the so called educated that do understand the pain the poor go through, those who work in the Govt robbing the poor great deal.
she does not know what she is taking about. A lot of poor Africans are benefitting a lot from aid.
Moyo is dead wrong, I have not read her book but been a person who chair NGO in Zambia and seen the need of the poor is unavoidable. Moyo is very rich family , she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth thus does not understand the sting of poverty.
Her radicalizing is sulking.
am very disappointed with the former ghanaian president’s remarks over Dambisa Moyo’s stance on aid we recieve from the west. maybe he is lucky his former country has recieved enough aid that even tangible results have been felt, however, its not the case with zambia. the aid we have recieved cannot even develop the least populated province. kufour must understand that countries like libya, cuba etc developed without assistance from these people, they just delay progress in our nations
AID to African is not bad at all! What is not right is the application of the aid itself. Donors should directly fund projects that are vital to the growth of the economy like manufacturing. The idea of funding treasury is the worst way of giving aid to African Countries.
You are right Kufor. Moyo is an economist who is an ECNOMIC REFUGEE. So why talk about Africa where she does not even stay. Stupid IDIOT as KK would put it
Africa’s problem is multi-dimensional. That means there is more than one cause of poverty and lack of development. Our social structures which should support development have deteriorated. Some of the causes I can think of are poor leadership, poor work culture, lack of respect of local resources. To blame aid is ridiculous to say the least as this is neglecting other factors. There is no silver bullet to this problem!
In countries were I have traveled and seen stable economies, the citizenry often look at the government as their own. You will hear a Twsana always saying “My government ….”. This is not the case here and in many countries that are moving backwards. I must say in the 60s and 70s we were like that but something went wrong along the way.
The Ghanain president is also right to condemn that book because other countries in Africa do not have flawed governments and are doing well aid! The ideas in that book are radical, dangerous and unproven. Personally I get information from a wide range of sources before making decisions. In this case there is no country that has improved its economy by refusing help. The last time I checked USA was owing China a few Gazillion dollars.
For those that are supporting Former President Khuffor’s logic may you kindly give practical examples which are measurable with statistics in terms of Cost Benefit Analysis, GDP and all positive economic and other indicators supporting how Aid has helped Africa. No insulting please we need tangible results to be critically analyzed. At least Dambisa Moyo has backed her logic with numbers.For those that are trying to put Dambisa Moyo down that will not resolve Africa’s poverty situation we need to put our heads together and try to get ourselves out of these problems that have plagued Africa for decades. Analysis and measurable Logic is what is needed please.
People have to reflect on history and its history over different countries. This lady has pointed out probably the basics in African life. At the village level, you are expected to look after oneself but also contribute to the whole.
because Moyo works for these organisations that we are part of does not mean she does not understand Africa. I think she has more understanding and empathy for Zambia and Africa than those who advocate for Africa for personal gain.
Africa must be proud that you have a daughter of Africa being open about issues we all know. Progress comes from knowing ones own weaknesses first. Africa always wanting to demean itself, what a shame. We need sons and daughters of Africa able to honestly look at ourselves and the people that we serve. Not being in politics does not mean we dont care, we care and the more Moyos the better so we can bring a change for the better than these political dinassours, who should really have given up a long time ago. Oldest presidents, where mostly found- Africa, you wonder why. Her fresh thinking is what that continent we all love so much deserves.
Sometimes its just right to write about something you have lived once in your life time.. I haven’t read Dambisa book but I believe she is not the best judge on ‘REAL POVERTY’ she has never tasted any in her life time…. Former president of Ghana is right.. say it loud and clear man!!!
Wondering:
No one is blaming Donor Nations for Africa’s woes just for the sake of it. What you don’t seem to appreciate is the fact that these so called ‘donor’ nations have been complicit in perpetuating this fraud called AID.
Ask yourself this simple question: What is it that needs to be accomplished through AID that has not been done in 45 yrs already? If the answer is “PLENTY”, then ask yourself the next logical question; why after so many years and billions in AID money is Africa still in shambles? Thieving African leaders? YES! But under whose protection and watchful eye, or not so watchful, have these leaders been able to plunder the AID monies and Africa’s wealth?
Mind you, all AID and the policy that acompany’s it is never developed in the receipiant countries, but by the same people who have bankrolled some of the waste desports on the African continent and beyond. So then the question is; how then these very people who call themselves “smart” have failed to come up with a policy that really makes sure this money gets to do what it is intended for?
Sounds cynical, but the only logical conclusion that one can really come up with is, none of these so called DONOR NATIONS BELIEVES THAT AFRICANS ARE EVER GOING TO PUT THEIR ACT TOGETHER AND DEVELOP!!! To them, Africa is only good for what it offers in terms of raw materials, and not the well being of its citizens. To go even further, Africa in these people’s eyes is only a fertile land for economic experiments and Academic papers by PhD candidates in colleges and Universities of the so called ‘rich’ Nations.
And so, what do these govts do to clear their collective conscious’s; THEY GIVE TOKEN AID to keep quiet their citizens who are really serious about doing something significant regarding ‘third world’ countries in terms of TRADE and DEVELOPMENT. A scenario, if implemented, would immediately and positively transform Africa, and have long lasting effects than AID. Serious, credible CAPITAL INVESTMENTS from America and Europe is what is going to get Zambia and Africa out of the economic doldrums, NOT AID.
And herein lays the basis for blame towards the DONOR nations, my friend!!!!!!
The bible in Prov 19:15 says laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. I have heard many zambians claim their nation to have some of the highest IQs in the world, haven’t seen that research, yet so much poverty. I favour begging for skills – teach a man how to fish … our people have high IQs after all. With proper, say Project Management, skills Dag Hammersjold (no spell check) would have been completed many moons ago, maybe zambia would have hosted the next African Cup of nations. High IQs we have. We don’t need aid, aid to build schools and train our people, maybe, not to buy feeding kits for the hospitals. Aid’s creapling us. Small wonder we believe white people are our saviours not enslavers. I feed you, you’ll always come begging from me. Shut the university, who needs it in such a country? Again Proverbs says (20:4), “the lazy man will not plough because of winter; he will beg during the harvest and have nothing.High IQs we have, planting maize only in the rain season yet we have 40% of Southern African water reserves. Planting maize year in and out when chilis or whatever else can get us more more money at Tesco, walmart, etc. Einstein called insanity – doing the same thing over and hoping for different results. Aid comes every year, holy white people bring it to our people, we praise them, we even call for a white president (maybe guy scott) – maybe things will change if our president was white, ha! madness, begging bowl every year at the so-called Paris club. Lets wake up, Moyo is right. Our people work hard in the rural areas for so little – insanity – they do the same thing over and over, our leaders do the same – beggars in suits. Prov 20: 13 (the bible is so practical), “do not love sleep, lest you come into poverty; open your eyes and you will be satisfied with bread.” Ms Moyo is right, i haven’t read what she says, but aid cripples
John Kufuor is dead right. This “Dumbwisa” girl is not Africa’s spokeswoman. Development Aid may have been misapplied in several African countries, but is not a bad thing itself. In most cases this happens because of the calibre of people that we elect into office, so the first thing we need to do is to realign our politics towards “Devotion to Serve”, “Honesty & Transparency”,”Accountability” and “Outcomes-based budgetting”. Aid must be specific. There must be an approved and accurately costed business case, e.g. for the “construction of 2000 houses of 180 square metres each within 18 months”. Each business case to be funded maust be measurable, and punitive measures should be stated for failure to achieve the desired outcomes. Specific individuals must be asssigned clear duties and responsibilities for which they should enter into contract as custodians of Aid monies, heavy jail terms be muted out for any non-compliance. We must just agree that certain serves that government needs to render cannot be properly funded through Aid, e.g. stocking our health facilities with medicines. The public does not have a way of verifying this. But if aid is given for the construction of a school, hospital or road, and we all know that the construction schedule is for 18 months, then we can tell with our naked eyes whether that has indeed happened or not.
This book which has got everybody excited is a HALF-TRUTH!. It has omitted many important factors such as the importance of good leadership. Mjumo Mzyece and Chanda Chisala has taken note of this in their review of the book. Whilst it is a good book, it is by no means a blueprint for a way out for Africa and sends a bad message to the community of friendly nations that are helping us. It is very easy to blame other people for our problems.
DONOR AID OR JUST A BET AGAINST FALSE PROMISES?
The Ghanaian Former President looks like an alien in this picture. He must be from a distant country on planet earth called Ghana and to get there we need a spaceship. We have landed on the planet. We look at our Captain Dambisa Moyo’s log book and we see she has entered the following:-
Captain’s Log: Year of our Lord 2009, 30th day of September…
We have landed on a strange and wonderful watery planet – the third planet in orbit around the sun, a minor star in the Milky Way galaxy. Well, they say it is watery planet. Where we are, it is hot and dry. But the locals say it warms up even more in October and the clouds turn black and it rains. We’re suspicious; maybe it’s just hype to attract tourists.
But what is strange about this planet is that its inhabitants all seem to play a game of make-believe, in which they all agree to believe things that every one of them knows, is untrue. What is wonderful about it is that it seems so easy to make money here; there’s a fool on every corner just waiting for the chance to get rid of his wealth.
Recently, black humans – the race that inhabits this part of planet earth – believed in miracles, that White Aliens would build them houses, lodges and highways and that these would become more and more valuable – even though it was obvious that the houses built by White Aliens deteriorated every day, as a consequence of solar radiation, wind erosion, liquor spilt on the carpets and other natural phenomenon. Then, on the back of this remarkable delusion, they built an entire economy…including extravagantly complex financial instruments which the wisest among them called “special drawing rights” or “weapons of mass financial destruction.”
Someone seems to have cut the power to that illusion two years ago, so now they are taking up a new one: that if people are given more pieces of green paper on which is written “AID” they will all be richer.
Today’s tabloid press – the means by which delusions are shared and propagated amongst the black humans – tells us that the government of this planet’s richest nation, called the United States of America, is planning a “stimulus package too” of something on the order of $1 trillion. What’s the package expected to stimulate? The idea is to get more of these pieces of paper into its citizens’ hands first, so that they will be encouraged to spend and act as though they were wealthier. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone that the source of the misery of which so many humans now complain was the fact that, in the past, so many of these Americans acted so much wealthier than they really were. Nor does it seem to disturb the collective fantasy that this stimulus plan is being created, more or less, by the same class of humans who neither saw anything wrong with the last fantasy nor mentioned to anyone that it was going to collapse.
What a marvelous place! Every day is magic on this planet. Every day is not a new day…with no memory of what happened the day before…nor any thought to what will happen tomorrow. People are ready to believe whatever makes their day more enjoyable…no matter how absurd.
Anyone who bothered to think about this “AID” for two seconds could see that it is a hoax and a scam. Those pieces of paper are not really wealth…they merely represent wealth. But since the White Donor humans have no wealth in reserve – indeed, they are famously borrowing to make ends meet themselves already – it can only pass out wealth to one person by taking it from someone else. It talks of ‘tax cuts,’ but we have heard nothing of spending cuts. So, what the planet earth’s consequence must be is an increase in pieces of green paper – or let us say, demand for wealth – with no actual increase in wealth itself. It is just a shared illusion, in other words.
But we have to say too, after visiting this planet for a few weeks, we have fallen in love with it. We feel so superior. Almost everyone we talk to is a dope.
Besides, where else in the universe is it so easy to make money? As you know, dear reader, the easiest way to make above-market profits is to help the fool’s part company with their money. What other planet has so many fools?
We paraphrase one of the smartest of the White humans, George Soros, who puts it this way: ‘The way to make profits is to find the premise that is wrong and bet against it.’ As far as we can tell, almost every major premise is wrong…or at least the over-arching premise of this AID-bubble era is as loony as the one that preceded it. Just as you can’t really get rich by borrowing and speculating… you can’t recover from a bust-up by borrowing and speculating more.
But heck, we don’t make the rules down here on Planet Earth…we just try to have some fun with them.
Concerned Zambian:
Have you read Dr Moyo’s book?
If not, I urge you to read it before displaying your
lack of grasp of what Dambisa is agitating for in her book.
Your comments seem to stem from a position of ignorance of the
facts in the book (DEAD AID).
Ms Moyo takes on the issue of the Marshall plan squarely in her
book in plain English. So I am not sure where you are getting
your facts. TYPICAL ZAMBIAN JELOUSY, right?
I have read her book—cover to cover. And anyone who serously
reads her book will walk away impressed with the kind of detail
and facts she presents on this issue of AID to Africa.
READ THE ‘DAMN’ BOOK, FOR GOD’S SAKES!!!
By the way, what’s wrong with getting educated and putting the
knowledge you gain to good use? Not many People will ever be able
to replicate what Dambisa has done to bring attention to this
issue, which you and me know full well it has impacted Africa,
and Zambia in particular, very negatively. Unless you live in a
dream-world, I am not sure how you can be blind to all the ill
effects of AID—-beggars never learn to farm for themselves!!!
The Marshall Plan you have eluded to was “short, sharp and finite”
(if can quote Dambisa Moyo.) Never the kind we have seen targeted
towards Africa that has caused so deep deep dependence on handouts
from foreigners. And you are not ashamed of that!?????
MY advice, write your own book and convince us all how AID has done
miracles in Africa. I, personally, will be interested to see how you
spin that web.
Just stop the hating for nothing!!!
The only real winner in this debate is writer of that book who is selling many copies. Aid has failed in Africa because of corrupt systems of government. It is foolish to blame people that are helping you on humanitarian grounds. These countries that give us money could use that money to solve domestic problems if they could bare to see us dying like flies. Here we are blaming them for our problems. First we blamed colonialists, secondly we blame UNIP, now its donors. Sounds like a broken record. We need to look at ourselves for the source of those problems. Unless we do that we will not stop the cycle of poverty.
Neither does Former President Kuffor speak for Africans. Most of the younger generation in Africa seems to accept Dambisa Moyo’s model.
Palibekantu:
Just a thought, the MUZUNGU’S, as you call them, don’t want to let go of the AID for their own personal selfish reasons. Just walk around Lusaka/Zambia and see the kind of cars foreigners administering this “AID GRUG” drive.
Do you realise how many people the AID INDUSTRY employs here in the West? Trust me, you will be shocked if you knew. In fact a huge percentage of the AID money is spent before it even leaves the shores of America and Europe. It is spent right here in the West to support these so called Charity/Aid organizations. This is before our African crooks (leaders) get their fingers on it. By the time it reaches, if at all, a poor mother in Katete, it is only a few cents on the dollar. This is the real sad state of affairs of the AID Kufuor seems to be intoxicated with—what a shame!!!
People have made careers as “sympathy generators” for Africa. They are completely scared to death for their jobs when a young educated African, an African woman for that matter, starts to talk like Dr. Moyo is doing. Have you heard of NKWAME NKRUMA before? Yes, the one who had big ideas about his people and continent? It is no secrete what happened to him. That should give you some indication as to how BA ZUNGU feels when someone beats them at their own game. Mind you, they have somehow convinced themselves that they are the only source of what is good and progressive in world!!!
Have you ever wondered why even ‘COMMON SENSE’ doesn’t seem too common among this group?!! They have fashioned themselves all sorts of fancy titles to make themselves and their jobs sound sophisticated and indispensable. But all they are is peddlers of a kind of “SUPERIORITY COMPLEX” that is insidious and blinding to even the CLEAREST EVIDENCE and TRUTHS.
Unfortunately, we still have some remnants of leaders like Former Ghanaian president, Kufuor, who still believe in this false notion that a savior for Africa will, some day, emerge out of ‘BA ZUNGU LAND.’ Ironically, Nkrumah, if I am not mistaken, was a proud son of Ghana.
What these AID mongers are doing is a classic definition of insanity: “DOING THE SAME ‘DAMN’ THING AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT RESULT.” If it is not clear to anyone serious about this issue that after 45 years, and counting, the cookie-cutter aid policies towards Africa have not worked, and will never work, then they really need some serious exorcism.
Time for Africa to seriously start working on locally cultivated alternative—BECAUSE THIS “AID COW” GONNA STOP LACTATING SOMEDAY SOON!!!
At last someone is putting her in her place. The problem here is that we have an individual that has got a good education and now she thinks she knows all the answers. She has the audacity to discredit what aid has done for Africa. The problem we have in Africa is poor leadership! After the second world war many countries used aid (Marshall Plan) to reconstruct their economies and today they are doing well. If aid is provided and then it ends up in a politician’s Swiss account, does that imply that aid is bad?
This is a very interesting topic. I have not ready the lady’s book and therefore attacking or defending it would be illogical. However, i would like to put one point accross. The amount of resources in the universe is limited. And as long as you have people that are more advanced in tapping the world resources, there will always be beggers- like us Africans. And therefore to say that aid is not needed would be folly. Use the example of a family unit. You can say your brother or sister does not need aid because you had at one point equal opportunities. As long as you become more advanced than you sister (who you love so much) you will always try to help her. BUT if she is going to use the resources to buy boyfriends beer, you will try to control that. It has nothing to do with unfair advantage or someone trying to control the other. Food for thought: if all Zambians where removed and resettled in the UK and or the natives of the UK were on the other end and the same time resettled into Zambia, i tell in five yrs, “Zambians” ressetled in the UK would start applying for Visas to come to Zambia. Partnarship and more responsibility from Africans is more important.
Kufuor balimushita abasungu. Mwibepekwa we can not continue to be receiving aid which does not work for us. Baimba aka chisima ati development. ukutumpa uku.
Kufuor balimushita abasungu. Mwibepekwa we can continue to be receiving aid which does not work for us. Baimba aka chisima ati development. ukutumpa uku.
Funny indeed! Because it’s an African Economist who is saying Aid is bad and has not worked for the last 60 years, the Muzungus who are supposed to be happy with this turn of events are in the forefront of saying NO! It’s good for you???? Why indeed??? There must be a catch! They obviously give aid knowing full well the final consequences of AID.
Compare Egypt which at one time was receiving up to US$7 billion per year in Aid from America alone to say Libya, Morocco and Algeria? The economic stats speak for themselves! I don’t know- but can you imagine this? Botswana has invested billions in some World Banks and the IMF and so does not require Western Aid or Donors really but they insist to give it AID… why? Can you imagine giving Angola Western Aid of US$200 million when this is pocket money to the country?
I agree…rather than AID we need foreign investments and open markets. Then the so called corruption won’t be an issue anymore as the FDIs will be in charge of their money-so to speak.But speak of corruption how about China and India how come they have developed despite the huge corruption prevailing in their countries? I think its more to do with the work culture. Zambians want something for nothing just look at the Shoprite and Spur Market strikes. Its always we want more …they dont even care about the capability of these companies to afford the huge demands they put on them… in the end its the consumer who suffers because all we shall now see are high consumer prices in these shops.Back to square one.
The problem we have is that, when someone is giving ideals to others its un insult. Tukalombalinga? Lets start to change our policies now. Look at south africa and learn from them. Too bad that a learder feels offended to good advise. Dambisa continue to work on the real issues affecting us. We salute you.
The Western World is challenged by one of our own.They are afraid of this AID thing goes away they will control of our leaders and the people on the continent. We will flourish, develop without their help, will lose cheap resources they gey from us, go dambisa tell them, we know what they are up … Asia does not depend on their AID and asia is flourishing, all this AID money pays for our politician’s lifestyles, excessive Goverment spending, and the poor will not miss this AID, they have not had it anyway.
AID has a positive impact on economic growth and poverty reduction in countries with good policies. The biggest problem we have in Zambia is misuse of public resources, corruption and poor leadership. As corrupt politicians and civil servants stash away huge sums of public funds for their own use, or aid and abet in the misappropriation of public resources, it becomes more difficult to find resources for development programs that would alleviate poverty. This affects the allocation and consumption of national resources and impact on the level and quality of basic services such as health, education, housing and water that can be provided to the citizens. In Zambia the amounts of public funds that have been diverted and/or stolen from public coffers through political corruption, as revealed by the Auditor General’s reports, run in millions of dollars. Surprisingly, the ‘thieves’ have largely gotten away with it and/or have earned promotions in some cases.
Corruption and skullduggery in Zambia appear to pay individuals far more than honest hard work and genuine entrepreneurship. Politics have been criminalized while Government and governance structures at various levels have been hijacked by those who have no respect for the law and yet are responsible for its implementation.
Because of endemic corruption prevailing in Sub-Saharan Africa, bizarre foreign investment agreements have been entered into, technically allowing investors to appropriate unlimited quantities of natural capital almost entirely for free. This fuels open-ended consumption in the North and by default global warming while it leaves a trail of unprecedented environmental damage and poverty in the South. In Zambia, for example, mining royalties are pegged at 0.6% while the global average is 3.0%. This means that the disproportionate consumption of natural capital by the North, and now by China and India, can no longer be blamed on the North or East. To the contrary, blame squarely lies on the Zambians.
To noticed she must be stinging people in the wrong places. It is apparent that the worlds’ economic fundamentals that have been around for ages are disfunctional – recession case in point.
The issue about AID to Africa, whether it is utilised properly or stolen by the politicians with the help of the donors is a non issue. The main sense I get from her arguments which I totally support, is that AID to Africa will one day dry up and it will then be our responsibilty to fend for ourselves. Why not start now and avert impending disaster in future.
We should negotiating for better trade relations and better prices and benefiacition for our raw materials
The world needs her kind with a very different view – not stereotypes.
Very true indeed we should do away with aid as soon as possible. Perhaps than rigging of elections will stop. We will have a democratically elected president. We are sick and tired of the MMD Power.
Yes AID is coming into Zambia but who is benefiting from that AID? Top people in POWER!!! Look at people like Dora Siliya what is she still doing in the Government? FTJ deposited some of his own money in the state account why and where did get that money from. If it was his money it should have been in his personal and in the Zambian Kwacha and not in US dollar.
Look at double standards here, when FTJ was President of Zambia he directed international trading companies like travel agents, motor dealers and celtel to fix their selling prices in Zambian kwacha and not in US Dollars. So why did he keep his money in dollars? This was truely AID money that’s why it was in dollars.
Stealing by people like RB and FTJ will come to an end if we say no to AID. It will be easier to take stock of our own country.
Do away with aid now. We were born to die one day. When we were in the wombs of our mothers in the late 40’s which donor gave aid to my beloved mother. It’s only GOD that provided for my mother and me and the so called AID from DONORS.
Well, Dambisa may not speak for Africa’s political elite but her arguments are cogent. Her arguments are powerful and mostly backed by hard facts. To date most views put across against the ideas she espouses in her book have been fuelled by emotion. After all is said and done, real development will only come from Africans themselves and not from handouts.
West Africans are crooks. So this black man has seen a chance to get money for his palm oil dependent country from irritated donors. He knows that by saying those silly things about Dambisa who is more educated than he, he will surely get consolation prizes from the stupid donors. But this also works in Zambia. NGOs say all sorts of things against their people just to enrich themselves
I suppose Kufuor is the president of Africa and speaks for all of us. Obviously he has not read Dambisa Moyo’s book. Infact he perfectly summarizes Moyo’s thesis when he says that: “Ghana has become less dependent [on aid]” and “were able to raise 750 million dollars in government bonds on the international market, which allowed us to invest in health care and the infrastructure.” One is left to seriously doubt his Oxford creditials.
I have not read Dr Moyo’s book but I have heard her interviews once or twice and as usual people misread the essence of her argument. She is not advocating ‘no aid’ but what most of us have always wanted ‘partnerships.’ Poor countries should be considered as partners in development and not as charity cases. Africa threw off chains of slavery only to be replaced with colonial yokes. Now the colonial yoke has been replaced by aid that comes with steel chains attached. We do not need cash injections on bilateral or multilateral terms, we need investment. Aid for small local and social projects, yes, because EVERY country in the world needs and has those. In UK, there are charities for dogs, cats, the homeless, the elderly, the mentally handicapped, the disabled, and so on. The government is hardly involved in these except for providing the legislation under which they operate. Why should it be different in Africa? Why should the whole Netherlands government be involved with building a small primary school, or dig a bore hole, or provide text books in the heart of rural Africa? The tiger economies did not develop to where they are through aid but investment. So far, the Chinese seem to have grasped the idea and are pouring billions of dollars into Africa and bringing about real development. That is what we need. If our leaders, like Kufour want to continue with ‘hand outs,’ then, they should resign and let the young Africans who want development that comes out of our own hard work in partnership with the developed countries. Fair trade without subsidies and stifling tariffs, that is what we want.