Jeffrey Sachs on African aid
Posted by pcoletti on March 11, 2009 · 4 Comments
Jeffrey Sachs is a special advisor to the UN’s Ban Ki Moon. He’s one of the key speakers here at the IMF conference in Dar es Salaam . . .
. . . and is famous for hectoring governments to keep their promises of aid to Africa. I put it to Mr Sachs that Africa had received a lot of aid to date and asked him what good more aid would do?
It’s all very well for Africa - for the umpteenth time - to hope that the evil West will keep its promises of aid, but what about all the promises made by African countries when asking for that aid? Democracy, clean government, etc. etc. The ink isn’t even dry on all the contracts and promises, aid flows, but into politicians’ pockets, not the starving people on the ground. But then the next contract is signed, more promises made (and broken), more aid flows, and so it goes on. When is Africa going to start taking responsibility for itself and stop blaming the colonisers, even after all these decades of independence? One gets tired of seeing presidents in convoys of new Mercedes, and their people getting poorer and poorer. They cannot, at 50 years “old” continue to behave like recalcitrant teenagers. Grow up, Africa, and maybe the world will start believing in you.
Jeff is really an elequant speaker, but he is full of it. In the last 3 decades we have spent 2.7 trillion dollars in Africa for aid, not less than the 780 billion in the stimulus. I work and run a for profit company in Africa, and what we need is less people like Jeff and more people like Bill Easterly. I have one word… DELIVERABLES… His ambigious comments with very little deliverable substance is much of the same…. alot of talk coming from someone with very little practical experience.
ur dead on sister. i have been saying this for a very longtime and whereever i go or meet fellow africans.
we need more people like you
“Grow up, Africa, and maybe the world will start believing in you.”
The trouble is, the colonisers, as you put it wouldn’t let africa grow up. Think about francafrique (France’s neocolonial policies in africa). Sarkozy may deny it, but it’s alive and kicking. How about the deaths of visionaries like Thomas Sankara (c/o France) and Patrice Lumumba (c/o US/Belgium) or the US masterminded topping of Kwame Nkrumah? These were men who dreamt of growing Africa.
You make good points about governance but then again, who puts or at least supports these puppets in government?
Let’s talk trade: look at the ridiculous “free” trade agreements imposed on African countries.
No examination is of Africa is complete till we join up the dots. Personally, I don’t think Africa needs aid. We’re wealthy beyond belief. What we need is vision and responsibility for our destiny.