"Promises, Promises: How reliably aid is given can be even more important than how much is given"

The Economist reports that

Memories of the pledge made by G8 leaders there to double annual aid to Africa by 2010 also seem to have faded with time. According to the OECD, on current spending trends annual aid will fall $14 billion short of the $50 billion African target—not a statistic to savour as today’s G8 leaders tucked into their eight-course banquet on the Japanese island of Hokkaido on July 7th. Once again, they vowed to honour their aid commitments to Africa, but they are not legally binding nor are they easy to pin down. As usual in the aid business, making promises is a lot easier than sticking to them.

The article further suggests that when developing nations can not depend on the promised foreign assistance, it is less useful; depending on funds that do not arrive can be very disruuptive.