Africa continues to face enormous problems. Historically, geographically and tribally, this is all clear. Western countries have been providing aid for decades. Whatever emphasis is placed, it has been to no avail. The conclusion has long been drawn: Africa is a lost continent. The black sheep on the planet. That’s one side of the story. The other side is our unwillingness to remove the trade barriers that cost Africa as much as $500 billion in trade annually.
Support to African countries
500 billion dollars is no less than ten times the amount the continent receives in development aid! How long are we going to continue to insist that we are selfless? Westerners who like to abdicate their responsibility and believe: Let those governments solve it themselves instead of putting the money in their own pockets or spending on weapons, are partly right. Because where did all that government support go, and what was the effect?
- Those in power are plundering the state coffers, which are filled with development money.
- Societies are steeped in corruption.
- Aid leads to bureaucracy, inflation, laziness and apathy.
- Thanks to the support, governments do not have to worry about their citizens.
- Donor countries keep corrupt governments in power.
- Aid undermines economic growth (the economies of most dependent countries shrank by 0.2% per year over the past 30 years).
tax
Conclusion: if we stop government support, only the elite will feel it, the poor never saw any of the money anyway. Over the past 60 years, a total of 1,000 billion dollars of Western tax money has flowed into Africa without leading to development. As early as the 1960s, development economist Peter Bauer described development aid as a tax on poor people in rich countries for the benefit of rich people in poor countries. He was ignored.
Trade barriers
On the one hand, donor countries ensure that the funds are spent properly, but on the other hand, they do not hold the recipients accountable. The World Bank calculated that 85% of the money had been used for purposes other than agreed. And between 1980 and 1996, 72% of the money went to countries that never adhered to the conditions. Yet the countries continued to provide support. The conclusion must therefore be that it is always better to give some money than to remove trade barriers, so that Africa can escape poverty on its own, because then we have to solve our own problems.
Peter Bauer: Development aid is a tax on poor people in rich countries for the benefit of rich people in poor countries.
Money
Yet it is also money well spent. Child mortality has more than halved in recent decades. In 1960 half of the children went to school, now more than 80% go. The next problem presents itself: the lack of jobs. In the countryside, farmers are more or less self-sufficient and everyone contributes, but existence is uncertain. Anyone who no longer wants that has no choice but to go to the city and do street trading. As a result, families fall apart and family connections that are so important in Africa are lost.
What is the alternative?
African governments must finance their budgets without development money. This can be done by:
- to issue government loans,
- attract foreign investment,
- expand exports; to emerging markets such as India and China
- to use the money that Africans transfer abroad.
How much chance is there of success?
- Most African leaders find it far too easy to cash their checks every year without having to take action. The clique around them sits comfortably and thinks the same way. Nothing is asked of the oppressed people.
- China and the Middle East have enormous financial reserves that are crying out for investment opportunities. But they also earn the most from the large-scale construction projects they set up in Africa and if African workers are not employed, they do not offer jobs.
- Western aid workers, advisors and economists do not dare to turn off the money tap. It is strange that non-African countries are expected to adapt to the free market. Apparently different standards apply to Africa. This has nothing to do with economics and logic.
Can we citizens do anything?
Are we citizens now absolved of our responsibility towards poor Africans? Not quite. Emergency aid and private assistance remain necessary for the time being. On large and small projects and in the form of micro-loans to private individuals to train / retrain, or want / need to invest. In the meantime, the rich countries should think with the Africans, instead of thinking
for them, in our own interests. More about development aid in the special.