Bob Geldof is organizing a simultaneous five concert extravaganza in a bid to raise awareness about the issue of African debt relief. While I applaud Mr. Geldof’s compassion and desire to use his name and connections to champion a cause that he sincerely believes would have a real impact on the lives of suffering Africans, one line from this article about his efforts made me wonder.
He claimed Africa was now equipped for aid, had thrown off its corrupt tyrants and insisted a deal on debt was achievable at the G8.
This is not a quote and perhaps his actual thoughts were more nuanced… but a generalizations such as “ [Africa has] thrown off its corrupt tyrants” are factually wrong. One doesn’t need to be an expert on the continent to know that the governments are steeped in institutionalized corruption at every level. Much of Africa’s continuing problems stem from the fact that sytemic corruption keeps much of the aid that enters the countries from ever reaching those who need. As well, much of the wealth generated by the regions governments is siphoned off – at many levels – by tyrants large and small.
Perhaps a deal amongst the G8 countries to cancel or reduce the size of the African debt is possible. But to assume that the resulting advantage gained by this gesture will effortlessly translate into real gains for the average African is to be either ignorant or willfully delusional. Some countries might be more worthy of debt cancellation than others as some countries might also be more worthy of increased aid. I would think that each country should be looked at on an individual basis. It is a complex problem. To simply say that Africa has “thrown off its corrupt tyrants” and thus is ready for debt cancellation and massive increases in aid is an oversimplification. Increasing aid year in year out regardless of performance is not an effective strategy and could very well work against the interests of the people wish to help. Easily pilfered aid only entrenches and strengthens the position of those parasitic officials in the governments who profit from the rich countries generosity.
I hope that whatever attention is focused by the concerts is enlightened in the sense that after the concerts are over, the debt cancelled and the fresh piles of money shipped off , people keep paying attention and keep questioning the status quo of the way relief is awarded and spent.
UPDATE:
Here are some excerpts from an asarticle about the African Economic Summit that took place in Cape Town which define the problems…
Corruption remains a particular problem, and Linah Mohohlo, the head of the Bank of Botswana, said, "If we do not make discernible progress (in addressing it) we'll be foolhardy if we think any other initiatives will make an impact."
Strengthening institutions - from judiciaries to the press and civil society - is the surest route to combating corruption, she said.
She also cited a lack of capacity to implement programs. Faced with low wages at home, thousands of African doctors, scientists, professors and other professionals have immigrated overseas in recent decades.
Now, when Africa receives aid money, somewhere between 50 cents and 80 cents of each dollar generally ends up in the hands of foreign consultants called in to create programs to use the cash, said President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania.
Past efforts to aid Africa have failed "precisely because there is a lack of capacity to implement these projects in the first place," Mohohlo said. Now, she said, Africa must work on ways to lure its experts home and bring their skills to bear.
I don’t know about you but a consultant who is hired to run an aid program and winds up putting 50 to 80% of the actual aid into their and their fellow consultants pockets is a tyrant. It’s subtle , but it is a tyranny of bureaucracy. It’s also profoundly corrupt. If you invested your money in a mutual fund and then found out that the managers put 50 to 80% of your money into their pockets and then proceeded to lose most of the money left over you would be furious and would never entrust them with a cent. And yet this is exactly what happens with the aid that goes to Africa. Most of it is skimmed off by bureaucrats and government officials and in this article you have the President of Tanzania admitting it.
As well there is a brain drain taking place …
She also cited a lack of capacity to implement programs
Let’s review Mr. Geldof’s statement again…
He claimed Africa was now equipped for aid, had thrown off its corrupt tyrants and insisted a deal on debt was achievable at the G8.
O.K. Bob.
Until the institutions in Africa are fundamentally reformed all the aid money and debt relief in the world will not solve the problems in Africa. Double the amount and you’ll be paying twice as many consultants to do twice as much work resulting in the same outcomes.
Common sense will tell you that the internal problems of Africa can not be solved by outside forces, no matter how well the intentions. I’m not saying that the current relief efforts are worthless, it appears that they are working in as much as they allow the African people to just keep there head above water… sometimes. But Geldof his like-minded and well intentioned partners are talking about solving the problem once and for all. Give us this much more and we can eradicate all of the suffering and everybody wants to sign on because it makes them feel good about themselves.
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