FOREIGN AID IS NOT THE WAY OUT FOR AFRICA!

The mention of the name Africa back in the late 19^th into the 20^th century would pop up dark images of the continent- people who were late in civilization! However, in the recent past, Africa has been viewed as a continent with rich culture, people with different lingua franca from Tunis to Cape Town and from the Horn of Africa, in Somalia, to Gambia. Ranging from the northern Arab populated to the black people in the Sub Saharan region and the white dotted South Africa. The misinformation about us is a long gone issue among the open-minded foreigners despite the fact that some quarters would still ask questions like,’ Do people ride lions in the African Savanna?’ But there are, sadly, common ties that bind African countries together. For instance, the degree of poverty, the extent of corruption, the incidence of disease, the poor infrastructure, the unpredictable, but mainly poor, economic showing, political instability, and the historical propensity for violent unrest and even civil war. These are common issues shared, notwithstanding the varying degrees, across most African nations. Policymakers , non-governmental agencies and the governments are faced with these challenges on day-to-day basis be it in the rebels-hit DRC Congo, the Arab Spring in the north, war-torn Somalia or the more advanced democracy in Ghana! All the mentioned negatives in Africa have held the nations behind in terms of development. However, there is something else that has contributed to underdevelopment and somewhat initiates some of the above problems. It is the foreign aid from donor nations and agencies!

The foreign aid jetting into Africa year in year out has held the African nations at ransom for decades now. I will call it dead aid since it has done very little in uplifting the economical, health and education sectors in Africa. Over $ 1 trillion has been injected in the underdeveloped African nations since the wave of gaining independence. The very nations in the Far East which had the same GDP with most African nations are much far ahead now e.g. South Korea. Foreign aid has contributed to the killing of many local manufacturers and rendered dozens redundant.  For instance, a local mosquito net manufacturer who has employed 50 people and in turn supported an equivalent number of 250 relatives dependent on his/her employees. However, this chain is broken when a donor nation/agency ships in mosquito nets manufactured back in their nation. The locally made mosquito nets can’t be bought since the government is giving people ‘free’ ones, consequently depriving the livelihood of the factory owner, the employees and the 250 relatives in the chain.

There has been struggle for power in most of the African nations for decades now. Those at the helm do not want to let go the power bestowed to them by their own countrymen like in Zimbabwe whereas others have toppled elected leaders in military coup d'etat e.g. Somalia, Niger, Mali to name but a few. In my sincere opinion, no one can use their resources to fight mega powers just for the sake of leading a nation. Who in their senses would do that? I would rather channel my resources into other ways to reproduce and enlarge my empire, huh? People struggle for power with hidden motives- power to control resources and the donor funds! The political struggles in Africa have been for people to have their hands on the donor funds, benefit themselves and their circles at the expense of the majority. If the aid funds were not available, the high expectations from the public would decelerate politicians. They would probably have little for themselves and a lot to deliver to the public which is not what they want!

The African economy has lagged behind since the 1960s. Many will point an accusation finger at the founders of our nations but overlook the dark cloud of high interest rates of the aid funds hanging above them then. In the recent past up to date, Africans have been working to pay back the aid funds from donor nations and agencies like the World Bank and IMF.  These high interests rates have crippled our economy for decades now. There were outcries and vigorous debt-relief campaigns in the 1990s. However, $ 15-20 billion is paid by Africans. Gosh! Such a huge amount of cash is siphoned out whereas the little which came in landed on few hands! In the same regard, farmers, who make up the majority of the African economical task force, are denied the opportunity to sale their goods by aid in form of foodstuff. In the hunger-hit nations in Africa, food is brought in from abroad as aid. The food grown by African farmers is not used. The best way would to buy food from African farmers and use it to feed the needy ones thus elevating these farmers economically and as well helping the needy.

An aid fund is now used to propagate foreign policies and beliefs in Africa. I call it modern colonization. A recent example is Malawi. The British government threatened to withhold aid fund for Malawi if it did not uphold gay-lesbian rights. In fact, most commonwealth countries in the third world were issued with the same notice during their summit. African leaders have been dragged into dubious contracts with the developed nations just to ‘defend’ the aid window for their countrymen (which are not right in any way).

  The way out for African countries is not reliance on foreign aid- I am very positive in this! When others were exploring their natural resources ours lay underground without our notice. We are now more alert and educated. In addition, we now know what lies under our feet! Good exploration of our natural resources from now henceforth will determine our destiny. We can be self-reliant in the near future. If others could what is up with us? Let aid come in terms of skills, trade in our products (them providing the markets) and help in machinery to explore our natural resources but not debt!

Aid funds should be cut-off from our countries! This will push our leaders into working hard to fund development projects from our own revenue and natural resources.  Many African leaders have lacked proper development plans since they know there will definitely have funds from donors. Corruption in the local governments and revenue authorities has deepen its roots due to little monitoring. This is because the revenue collected doesn’t really contribute to the nations budgets. Ethiopia, for example, contributes a mere 10% to its budget. Most countries pay their public servants with funds from donors.  A country without aid fund will be thorough in its revenue generating sources and strict on corruption lest the whole government becomes bankrupt.

Nations that can't progress without donor funds, let them have it the form of direct funding of development projects like infrastructure, health facilities and education. This is done by the use of foreign mega companies which can handle big projects (for instance, the Nairobi-Thika Superhighway, in Kenya, where Kenya had to chip in too) instead of giving governments funds to hire companies of their choice. In education, countries receive materials rather than money to buy for themselves! This will at least reduce corruption and let the aid reach the intended persons, the ordinary citizens.

Well, all said, the destiny lies in our hands i.e. we the electorates! Electing good leaders not rulers and hold them accountable where need arise. We can develop without the DEAD AID!!