For anyone who has not yet cottoned on to why our current, conscience appeasing way of delivering humanitarian aid to Africa isn't working, please read this book. It wasn't written by a rock star or a Hollywood celeb. It was written by a Zambian economist called Dambiso Moyo.
This is one girl who has her head screwed on right. What a pity the big wigs aren't listening to her... yet!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Dead Aid
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2 comments:
Somehow, I managed to hit delete instead of publish on a comment from Stephen Downes in which he said the following:
TIME Magazine name Dambisa one of the 100 most influential people in the world. http://tinyurl.com/d4fma7 And her book was a best-seller. http://tinyurl.com/cv9f86 That makes her the voice of the bigwigs, not someone ignored by them.
I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on the argument. But she is getting excellent product placement. And her argument is very convenient for those who have argued for years against financial aid for Africa.
@Downes I don't know how I missed that. Thanks for the pointer.
I'm not sure if you're expressing approval or disapproval of those who argue against financial aid to Africa.
For myself, I am all on favour of aid to Africa, but I believe with all my heart that it needs to look very different from great wadges of cash. In fact, I would love to be involved in a project that provides real development aid of a sort that empowers the people of the chosen country to improve their own position rather than creating a culture of ongoing dependence on handouts.
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