(March 4, 2010) Millions of dollars of international aid for victims of the mid-1980s famine in Ethiopia was diverted to rebels to buy weapons in the African country, a BBC investigation reported Wednesday.
Foreign aid takes another blow–this time in Australia
(March 3, 2010) Criticism of the high salaries being offered to contractors working with AusAID, Austrialia’s national aid agency, is the latest example of the increased scrutiny facing aid agencies around the world. The criticism comes after a recent audit showed that a number of aid workers are earning more money than the country’s Prime Minister. And they’re doing so tax-free.
Africa: It’s tough love weaning Africa off aid
(January 16, 2010) Aid is an unmitigated, political and humanitarian disaster, declares Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, in her book, "Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa." Hers is such a "tough love" prescription that the author has had to dodge a punch in Toronto, Canada, and has had tomatoes thrown at her elsewhere.
Dutch politician asks if aid really aids
(December 11, 2009) Arend Jan Boekestijn’s book deals a new blow to the position of development aid in the Dutch political landscape, which seemed unassailable until recently. For decades, the subject was taboo.
China to Lend Africa $10 Billion
(November 9, 2009) China’s prime minister said his country will give $10 billion in loans to African countries without any political strings attached.
Corruption and Bribery as a Way of Life in Africa
(October 26, 2009) Corruption happens at many different levels of bureaucracy, and has become a way of life. According to Transparency International, in Africa, the informal sector amounts to more than 40 per cent of the economy in many countries, reaching well over 50 percent in Nigeria and Tanzania. The lack of legal protection and the desire to dodge regulations makes the informal sector easy prey for extortion and the solicitation of bribes by corrupt officials.
Aid has not, does not, and will never, help Africa
(June 23, 2009) In the wake of Dambisa Moyo’s recent book, “Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is A Better Way for Africa”, the debate surrounding aid to African countries has, again, taken center stage.
African leaders call for the DIY approach
(June 6, 2009) As the economic crisis continues to work its way across the globe, the plight of African countries has been used as a reason for increasing foreign aid to the developing world. But a new tone has taken root amongst lawmakers in Africa, with a number of African leaders saying its time for leaders across the continent to find ways to fix problems without relying so heavily on foreign aid.
‘Dead Aid’ is dead wrong
(May 31, 2009) In her new book, Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo claims that aid to Africa has done nothing to alleviate poverty on the continent and it should be shut off in five years.
Why aid to Africa must stop: Interview with Dambisa Moyo
(May 30, 2009) Born and raised in Zambia but educated at Oxford and Harvard, Dambisa Moyo was an uncommon face as a black woman in the world of high finance. Now, as she makes her way to Canada for a highly anticipated debate on Monday with Stephen Lewis and others at the Munk Debate on Foreign Aid, she spoke with the National Post about her ideas and the hazards of opposing the aid orthodoxy.
Moyo’s confused attack on aid for Africa
(May 29, 2009) Aid critics have recently been blaming aid as the source of Africa’s poverty. This column explains how Africa has long been struggling with rural poverty, tropical diseases, illiteracy, and lack of infrastructure and that the right solution is to help address these critical needs through transparent and targeted public and private investments. This includes both more aid and more market financing.
To aid or not to aid, that is the question
(May 31, 2009) If Africa’s underdevelopment has been compounded mainly by official aid, as the Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo argues in her book “Dead Aid”, then addressing it might be as straightforward as she suggests. Aid could be turned off, African governments would work harder to foster growth and private capital might prove more effective in curbing poverty.
Aiding is Abetting
(April 30, 2009) Dambisa Moyo’s prescription for economic sustainability in Africa—which includes cutting off all aid within five years—might seem insane if the statistics weren’t so grim: despite one trillion dollars in western aid over the past sixty years, the economic lot of the average African has only gotten worse.
In the Name of Progress: The Underside of Foreign Aid
In clear, uncompromising language the book explains where progress went wrong and the remedies needed to prevent foreign aid from doing more of the same in the future.
It’s tyranny stupid!
(June 6, 2005) There’s a puzzling idea doing the rounds on Africa. It occasionally surfaces in Tony Blair’s speeches as Britain gears up for a G8 summit at which he will be pushing for debt write-off and a doubling in aid to African countries.