Six experts on Africa policy recently took on those issues in an Oxford-style debate, part of the National Public Radio series titled "Intelligence Squared U.S." Three experts argue in favor of the proposition stated above, and three argue against. Excerpts of the arguments are presented both in text and in streaming audio.
William Easterly is quoted as saying:
"...We've already spent, as official donors, $600 billion in aid to Africa over the past 45 years, and after all that, children are still not getting the 12-cent medicines (to fight malaria). So there were still between 1 million and 3 million deaths from malaria last year. So aid would be a great thing if it worked. But the sad tragedy is that — and this is really one of the scandals of our generation — money meant for the most desperate people in the world is simply not reaching them: $600 billion in aid to Africa over the past 45 years, and over that time period there's basically been zero rise in living standards."Comment: What a crock! First, the last decade has been pretty good for Africa, with average growth in the continent of 5.4% and all but one country (Zimbabwe) in Sub-Saharan Africa showing growth. The resource rich countries, with over a quarter of the population of the region have done quite well due to increasing prices for their exploited resources, and almost 40 percent of the population of the region living in resource poor countries have also seen growth averaging over 4 percent per year.
More fundamentally, there are about 800 million people living in the region now. Count those who died in the past 45 years, and call it a billion for a round number. So the donor community has provided $600 over 45 years per person, or $13 per person per year. These people, most living at a poverty level hard for Americans to imagine, have not progressed rapidly with such munificent support! Probably wasted a lot of it on food and medicine, no doubt!
Of course, the foreign aid did not make up for the export income their goods would have earned had they had a fair chance to sell into foreign markets. How much do European nations owe Africa as a result of their colonial exploitation? How much do American nations owe Africa as a result of the kidnapping of Africans into American slavery? How much better off would Africans be now if those things had not happened?
Moreover, the aid that Easterly mentions in so disparaging a way has saved huge numbers of lives with those inexpensive anti-malaria interventions, and the eradication of smallpox, and other public health interventions. It has helped feed a continent by contributing to increased agricultural productivity. What a crock! JAD
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