By Philippe Adriaenssens, JEF Belgium
More than $1 trillion in development aid has been poured into Africa over the past 50 years but this has only helped to perpetuate a vicious circle of poverty, argues Dambisa Moyo in her book “Dead Aid”.* She demands the phasing out of all foreign government aid within the next five years in order to allow African countries to lift themselves out of poverty. True, decades of European involvement in Africa has brought about little change and the “lost continent” is lagging behind on virtually all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This staggering fact should lead the EU member states to seriously rethink their strategies and methods if they do not want all their efforts to evaporate. With some $75 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to its name, the EU is by far the largest donor in the world, representing over 55% of the total yearly ODA. 1 But the reality is that the European Commission (EC) is entrusted with only one-sixth of the EU member states’ aid, while five-sixths is still being channelled by European governments themselves. This article will therefore argue that only a more federal European development policy driven by the Commission will result in the delivery of more, better and faster aid which does trigger genuine economic growth in Africa.
What went wrong?
The main reason for which development policy is sometimes declared to be on the edge of bankruptcy is that EU member states cherished hidden national economic, security or postcolonial agendas far too long. Tied aid required recipient countries to purchase their equipment from companies residing in donor countries; strategically important but corrupt governments squandered money on mega projects that were by no means viable; and short-term technical assistance served as a charity sweetener to prolong influence in former colonies. Aid was centred on the interests of the North instead of those of the South. High officials of national development institutes admit that still too much time and money are being wasted on administrative micro-management and (Western) consultants. 2 Moreover, everybody was involved in everything and the three crucial C’s of coordination, complementarity and coherence were totally disregarded. Too many cooks spoil the meal, especially when the recipes are full of flaws and the ingredients have passed their expiry date.
