As a Malawian, I have spent many years working for the development of my country and other poor nations in Africa, as a school teacher, then for Voluntary Services Overseas and now for Oxfam.
In her much publicised book ‘Dead Aid‘ Dambisa Moyo has argued forcefully that foreign aid is wasted and does more harm than good. It saddens me to read this book and see how it is adding to the prejudice against aid that is so common in the UK public and other rich nations.
The book is wrong on two counts. It is wrong in saying that aid does not work, and it is wrong in saying that viable alternatives exist, especially at this time of economic crisis. With rich country governments facing recession and looking for any excuse to cut their aid this book could not have come at a worse time.
Where we all agree is that aid can only ever be part of the solution; it is far from the panacea that is often implied by pop stars. But neither is aid the root of all evil and the main source of continued poverty and corruption, which is Moyo’s main argument. I have direct experience of the major benefits aid can bring to poor countries.
Over 34 million more children have got to go to school for the first time in the last decade, paid for by a combination of poor country governments doing more themselves and increases in aid and debt relief.
Aid for education and health is vital to supporting economic growth. Malaria costs Africa $12 billion each year in lost revenue due to the millions of days and lives lost to sickness, and eliminating Malaria could add 1.3% to GDP growth.
I am not saying that all aid is perfect. A lot of what I would call ‘old’ aid is still given for the wrong reasons, to support foreign policy or to help companies in rich countries. But I am concerned that ‘new aid’ which is doing a great job is threatened by these attacks that paint all aid with the same brush.
Aid must go to governments too, not just charities. Governments are the only ones who can act at the scale to get millions into school and save millions of lives. It is also their responsibility, and they must not be let off the hook. Many governments in Africa and elsewhere are making incredible progress.
At the same time charities, unions, church groups and others are acting to carefully watch their governments and ensure the money is spent well. In Malawi I worked with the education coalition to go out to schools and make sure that they received the money promised for textbooks and chalk, and our work led to the government protecting education spending even when it had to cut other spending.
The alternatives that Moyo suggests, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and government borrowing on capital markets are of course important and have to play a huge part in successful development. To this list we would add fair trade rules that enable countries to get the maximum value for their exports, and give them the space to develop their own industries, an issue that Oxfam has long campaigned on.
However, where Moyo is wrong is to suggest that if all aid were stopped these sources of income would rapidly fill the gap, and that they would also lead to less corruption and more accountability. This ignores the fact that most Foreign Direct Investment in Africa goes to the mining sector, and is far more closely linked with corruption than aid, as organisations like Global Witness have demonstrated.
Government borrowing on capital markets is also a very risky alternative, and the huge debts run up in the 1980’s by a series of dictators have only just been cancelled after decades of misery. None of these loans did anything to increase accountability or corruption or lead to sustained economic development: quite the opposite.
Africa is also not just one nation, and should not be presented as such. It is a continent of many nations at different stages of development. No one would suggest that because there is corruption in Hungary for example that Spain should have its aid from the EU stopped, yet that is effectively what Moyo is suggesting.
And these solutions are even less likely in the current economic crisis. African growth is going to slow from 5.4% in 2008 to 1.7% in 2009 because of collapsing commodity prices and the global crisis caused by bankers in the rich world. African economies are likely to suffer about $578 billion in lost export earnings over the next two years, representing 18.4 percent of GDP and more than ten times total aid to Africa.
Countries like Ghana that were trying to borrow money on the markets are now finding it is impossible. Foreign direct investment is rapidly declining too, as are remittances as Africans living overseas lose their jobs. At the same time food prices have remained high following their dramatic increase last year. Sadly Africa needs aid now more than ever.
The economic crisis in rich countries is also being used as an excuse to cut aid budgets. Aid could be reduced by as much as $8 billion, which is money that could save millions of lives. Dead aid, and the publicity it has generated worldwide, could not have come at a better time for the finance ministers of the G8.
I think it is right to debate aid, but it should be done sensibly and responsibly, in a way that also looks at the many benefits, and does not rely more on prejudice than on what is needed to help Africa develop. As Africans we owe it to the world to give a fair assessment of what our continent needs, and aid is a vital part of this. Moyo’s book has done a lot of harm, which will have a real human cost.
Tags: 'For All' health and education campaign, aid, Chikondi Mpokosa, Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid, education
Thought you might be interested to hear what one of your colleagues is saying about Dambiso’s book….
June 5th, 2009 at 2:12 pmTime has come for Africans especially those born after independence to re-assess our situation. No business or institution would spend as much as was spent on Africa and continue to do so without a pause. More than 2.3 Trillion dollars and what we have to show for it…a poorer, sicker continent?
August 25th, 2009 at 1:57 amThe truth hurts but we must face it and correct the aid system. It has only worked marginally.
However, I understand the natural defensive posture of AID organizations in claiming what they have achieved. The problem with charitable organizations is they are unaccountable and without accountability little can be done.
So, it is intellectually dishonest to accuse Dr.Moyo book of causing harm …some have gone as far as labeling her a genocidal individual. The best line in this debate could be summarized by Paul Collier who strait-faced said that Aid has not work because it was never meant to work.