(June 25, 2009) Dambisa Moyo’s solutions to ineffectual foreign aid have been sneered at, misrepresented, distorted, and attacked outright. Probe International takes it as a sign that Dead Aid has hit the central nervous system of the foreign aid industry. Consequently it can be difficult to separate what Moyo really said from what has been put forth as her words by others in an attempt to vilify her position. Here, Probe International attempts to set the record straight with a side-by-side comparison of what Moyo actually said versus what her critics claim she said.
Finding the leaks in Kenya’s water sector
(June 24, 2009) After receiving loans from the World Bank last year, a recent report by Transparency International(TI) says Kenya’s water sector is riddled with corruption and inefficiencies—an allegation that the government seems to admit.
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.
World Bank seeks to increase lending to the developing world
(June 15, 2009) As the economic crisis continues to work its way through the global economic system, the World Bank is using the slowdown as an opportunity to increase lending to the developing world. According to the bank’s president, Robert Zoellick, the bank will increase its lending by $100 billion over the next three years. In 2009 alone, the bank plans to triple its lending from $13.5-billion to $35-billion.
Back to Sachs: astrology, despotism, and Africa
(June 2, 2009) Sachs Debate, Day Eight. Surprised that Sachs did not understand the point about Occam’s Razor — that a theory should be as simple as possible but no simpler. African poverty is complex, but our theories about it should not have so many complex Buts, Ors, and Excepts that they are impossible to disprove. Ignoring Occam’s Razor is how astrologists stay in business.
A third way
(June 8, 2009) What started out as a critique last week of Dambisa Moyo and her new book “Dead Aid” by Jeffrey Sachs morphed into a full-on war – Jeffrey Sachs and the pro-aid establishment vs. William Easterly and the aid skeptics.
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.
Canada’s foreign aid: Big picture versus water wells
(June 5, 2009) Helped by emergence of foreign aid heavyweights, Canada’s mainstream media is taking note of the country’s foreign aid policies.
Good governance can only bolster aid to Africa
(June 2, 2009) The recent debate about aid sparked by Dambisa Moyo’s book, Dead Aid, has polarised the development community. I have long argued that it is investment and good governance, not aid, which will solve Africa’s problems, although effective aid has an important role to play in the quest for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. Ms Moyo suggests that government bonds can take the place of development assistance. This is unrealistic.
Business big shot: Dambisa Moyo, director, SABMiller
Few people dare to take on the likes of Bob Geldof on the issue of development and aid to Africa — but Dambisa Moyo, who joined the board of the brewing giant SABMiller on Monday, has done just that.
No need to oversimplify poverty
(June 1, 2009) Bill Easterly takes a complex problem, African poverty, and tries to reduce it to a single factor: "the consensus among most academic economists is that destructive governments rather than destructive geography explain the poverty of nations." This is a strange assertion. Geography and government policies both matter.
Governments struggle to assess aid effectively
(June 2, 2009) After the heated rhetoric on FT.com from such eminent experts as Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterley about Dambiso Moyo’s book , Dead Aid , Mo Ibrahim is to be congratulated for restoring sober thought and analysis to the debate about the value of aid.
Lost in the tropics: Sachs’ misguided African geography
The debate on aid to Africa continues. This column argues that it is bad governments and institutions that cause poverty, not bad geography. Making sure aid reaches the poor will often mean not giving it to poor governments.
‘Trade is not aid’
After years when billions have been spent on aid in Africa, donors are now picking up on a new trend to put their money on the continent’s entrepreneurs.
Africa’s ‘dead aid’
(June 2, 2009) Two well-meaning members of the Western establishment, whose advice over the decades has, as much as anyone’s, brought the Third World to its knees, both believe the Third World needs more of their advice. Though at last night’s Munk Debate, prominent African author and economist Dambisa Moyo passionately disagreed.
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