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Overseas aid to Africa does more harm than good

Aid was once described as “an excellent method of transferring money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.” Sadly, the billions that have been poured into the continent’s economic development over the past fifty years have made little tangible difference to an average African’s quality of life. All too often, the money ends up siphoned away in a despot’s Swiss bank account, or stifling local entrepreneurialism, or simply building a well where nobody drinks.

But then there’s the other side of the story: the millions of lives saved by medical treatments for smallpox, polio, and Aids; the food provided to the starving and the political pressure that aid initiatives have allowed the West to apply. So is it trade restrictions, rather than aid reliance, which has delayed Africa’s growth? And who is better placed to help – African governments or NGOs?

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