Why Good Governance Matters More in Africa Than Aid

"African leaders ask "Why can’t the rich Western countries provide $70billion annually to meet the MDGs? It’s only a fraction of their annual GDP. They can easily spare it, but it would mean so much in the developing world." Western aid advocates do their part by painting gory pictures of famine and disease in Africa to justify the demand. Yet, some way, somehow, African leaders have been able to squeeze close to $150 billion per year."
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"At the MDG summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a balance between aid and good governance as a necessary condition for attaining the MDGs. Unfortunately, African governments generally prefer an imbalance with more aid and less accountability. Donor nations need to understand this reality and get away from platitudes like the MDGs and aid targets and insist that African governments enact policies that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirits of Africans to create wealth and support national governments through taxation. Aid may help governments that have already begun to tread this path, but providing ever-more aid in hopes that they will only perpetuates the status quo." >> more