Obama Must Reverse Bush-Era
African Policy
2 April 2009 ( EQN ) -
The United States
Militarized its policy
towards Africa,
defended
unpopular and undemocratic regimes and undermined
United Nations peacekeeping missions on the
continent under the Bush administration, says the
Africa-centered More
African Policy
2 April 2009 ( EQN ) -
The United States
Militarized its policy
towards Africa,
defended
unpopular and undemocratic regimes and undermined
United Nations peacekeeping missions on the
continent under the Bush administration, says the
Africa-centered More
U.S. Aid Is Holding Africa Back – OpEd
22 April, 2011 | By Diana Furchtgott-Roth
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
credit-worthiness, it is imperative that Congress reduce spending
and borrowing. Aid to Africa is one place to start.
George Ayittey, a Ghanian economist and a professor of economics
at American University, offers persuasive reasons in a paper he gave
earlier this month to the Association of Private Enterprise Education,
which held its annual meeting in Nassau, Bahamas.
“African dictators and the ruling elites are just not interested in
reforming their abominable political and economic systems,” he
declared. Until this changes, he argues, no matter how much aid
African nations receive, they will not progress.
African countries lack enlightened political leadership, Ayittey finds,
and most African leaders are more interested in lining their pockets
than encouraging entrepreneurship. That’s especially unfortunate,
because before Africa was colonized it had a culture of markets and
entrepreneurship, a spirit still in evidence in small African towns.
Africa’s economic situation should concern Americans, and not only
because of the billions of dollars wasted on foreign aid. A growing,
entrepreneurial Africa would be a trading partner for America, a
place to sell our exports and a source of low-cost imports. More
American exports mean more jobs for Americans.
Professor Ayittey, who grew up in Ghana and who was educated at
the University of Ghana and the University of Manitoba in Canada,
knows what he is talking about. The author of many books on
Africa, including Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Development
(Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004), he founded the Washington, D.C.-
based Free Africa Foundation in 1993, whose slogan is “Africa is
Poor Because She Is Not Free.”
Last September, in a speech at the International Monetary Fund, he
warned that certain African countries, including Algeria, Egypt, and
Libya, were about to implode. Few believed him, but surely enough
it has happened.
By the World Bank’s own records, the many billions of dollars it has
spent in Africa over the past fifty years have been wasted. In 1994,
the Bank reported that only six countries out of 29 that had received
$25 billion were doing well, namely Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana,
Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Later, it removed Gambia,
Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe from the success list.
This is a sobering indictment of those countries and of the
effectiveness of World Bank aid.
The World Bank, however, does not admit that its policies have
failed. Rather, it states in its Africa Regional Brief that “Africa’s
private sector is also increasingly attracting investment, with much of
the funding coming from domestic banks and investors. The sector is
also creating an emerging African middle class of hundreds of
millions of consumers. Returns to investment in Africa are among
highest in the world.”
One World Bank report, Doing Business 2010, cites Rwanda, torn
by political unrest, as the world’s top reformer. Another report,
Africa’s Future and the World Bank’s Support to It, concludes that
“Africa could be on the brink of an economic takeoff, much like
China was 30 years ago, and India 20 years ago.”
Ayittey’s data are more persuasive than the World Bank, which has
an incentive to make its loans appear more helpful.
Ayittey reports that much of the aid has gone into the pockets of
African dictators – $5 billion alone to General Ibrahim Babangida,
former dictator of Nigeria, $7 billion to Omar el-Bashir of Sudan,
and $40 billion to Egypt ‘s Hosni Mubarak.
But he holds some hope for Africa’s future, not from foreign aid, but
from a new generation of young professionals. He calls them
Cheetahs because they are energetic and quick on their feet. He
contrasts them to the old guard, the hippos. They are sluggish, short-
sighted politicians, even as the hippopotamus is a near-sighted
creature.
Hippos lack vision (hippopotamuses are near-sighted too) “and sit
tight in their air-conditioned government offices, comfortable in their
belief that the state can solve all of Africa’s problems.”
Cheetahs, Ayittey tells us, don’t accept corruption, inefficiency, and
incompetence, and they don’t give tired excuses for failure such as
the slave trade, imperialism, or an unjust international economic
system. Rather, they seek business opportunities and jobs, and are
ready to risk their own capital, energy, and futures.
What should America-and the World Bank and other helping
institutions-do? Rather than pouring in money, they must help
Africans develop six institutions that are necessary to a country’s
acquiring internal ability for sustained economic growth.
Ayittey stressed that the first condition is a free and independent
news media, so that Africans will have a free flow of information and
so that reform can come from within. In that way, governments will
be held accountable.
Second, an independent judiciary to assure that contracts will be
respected and the rule of law will prevail.
Third, an independent electoral commission, to ensure free and fair
elections.
Fourth, an independent central bank, to make sure that the country
has monetary stability, and to avoid capital flight.
Fifth, a neutral military to protect citizens.
Sixth, an efficient and professional civil service, to implement laws
without favoring any ethnic group.
As Congress and Western countries consider their foreign aid
budgets, helping Africa forge such institutions could be a cheaper
and more effective route to economic progress.
-----
Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a Senior Fellow and Director of Hudson
Institute’s Center for Employment Policy. She is the former chief
economist at the U.S. Department of Labor. This article first
appeared at RealClearMarkets.com and is reprinted with permission.
Courtesy
22 April, 2011 | By Diana Furchtgott-Roth
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Africa receives about $11 billion a
year in foreign aid from America,
and an equal amount in loans from
the World Bank.
In spite of this largesse, or perhaps
because of it, Africa remains the
world’s least developed region.
- In this time of fiscal crisis in the
United States, as evidenced by
credit-worthiness, it is imperative that Congress reduce spending
and borrowing. Aid to Africa is one place to start.
George Ayittey, a Ghanian economist and a professor of economics
at American University, offers persuasive reasons in a paper he gave
earlier this month to the Association of Private Enterprise Education,
which held its annual meeting in Nassau, Bahamas.
“African dictators and the ruling elites are just not interested in
reforming their abominable political and economic systems,” he
declared. Until this changes, he argues, no matter how much aid
African nations receive, they will not progress.
African countries lack enlightened political leadership, Ayittey finds,
and most African leaders are more interested in lining their pockets
than encouraging entrepreneurship. That’s especially unfortunate,
because before Africa was colonized it had a culture of markets and
entrepreneurship, a spirit still in evidence in small African towns.
Africa’s economic situation should concern Americans, and not only
because of the billions of dollars wasted on foreign aid. A growing,
entrepreneurial Africa would be a trading partner for America, a
place to sell our exports and a source of low-cost imports. More
American exports mean more jobs for Americans.
Professor Ayittey, who grew up in Ghana and who was educated at
the University of Ghana and the University of Manitoba in Canada,
knows what he is talking about. The author of many books on
Africa, including Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Development
(Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004), he founded the Washington, D.C.-
based Free Africa Foundation in 1993, whose slogan is “Africa is
Poor Because She Is Not Free.”
Last September, in a speech at the International Monetary Fund, he
warned that certain African countries, including Algeria, Egypt, and
Libya, were about to implode. Few believed him, but surely enough
it has happened.
By the World Bank’s own records, the many billions of dollars it has
spent in Africa over the past fifty years have been wasted. In 1994,
the Bank reported that only six countries out of 29 that had received
$25 billion were doing well, namely Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana,
Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Later, it removed Gambia,
Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe from the success list.
This is a sobering indictment of those countries and of the
effectiveness of World Bank aid.
The World Bank, however, does not admit that its policies have
failed. Rather, it states in its Africa Regional Brief that “Africa’s
private sector is also increasingly attracting investment, with much of
the funding coming from domestic banks and investors. The sector is
also creating an emerging African middle class of hundreds of
millions of consumers. Returns to investment in Africa are among
highest in the world.”
One World Bank report, Doing Business 2010, cites Rwanda, torn
by political unrest, as the world’s top reformer. Another report,
Africa’s Future and the World Bank’s Support to It, concludes that
“Africa could be on the brink of an economic takeoff, much like
China was 30 years ago, and India 20 years ago.”
Ayittey’s data are more persuasive than the World Bank, which has
an incentive to make its loans appear more helpful.
Ayittey reports that much of the aid has gone into the pockets of
African dictators – $5 billion alone to General Ibrahim Babangida,
former dictator of Nigeria, $7 billion to Omar el-Bashir of Sudan,
and $40 billion to Egypt ‘s Hosni Mubarak.
But he holds some hope for Africa’s future, not from foreign aid, but
from a new generation of young professionals. He calls them
Cheetahs because they are energetic and quick on their feet. He
contrasts them to the old guard, the hippos. They are sluggish, short-
sighted politicians, even as the hippopotamus is a near-sighted
creature.
Hippos lack vision (hippopotamuses are near-sighted too) “and sit
tight in their air-conditioned government offices, comfortable in their
belief that the state can solve all of Africa’s problems.”
Cheetahs, Ayittey tells us, don’t accept corruption, inefficiency, and
incompetence, and they don’t give tired excuses for failure such as
the slave trade, imperialism, or an unjust international economic
system. Rather, they seek business opportunities and jobs, and are
ready to risk their own capital, energy, and futures.
What should America-and the World Bank and other helping
institutions-do? Rather than pouring in money, they must help
Africans develop six institutions that are necessary to a country’s
acquiring internal ability for sustained economic growth.
Ayittey stressed that the first condition is a free and independent
news media, so that Africans will have a free flow of information and
so that reform can come from within. In that way, governments will
be held accountable.
Second, an independent judiciary to assure that contracts will be
respected and the rule of law will prevail.
Third, an independent electoral commission, to ensure free and fair
elections.
Fourth, an independent central bank, to make sure that the country
has monetary stability, and to avoid capital flight.
Fifth, a neutral military to protect citizens.
Sixth, an efficient and professional civil service, to implement laws
without favoring any ethnic group.
As Congress and Western countries consider their foreign aid
budgets, helping Africa forge such institutions could be a cheaper
and more effective route to economic progress.
-----
Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a Senior Fellow and Director of Hudson
Institute’s Center for Employment Policy. She is the former chief
economist at the U.S. Department of Labor. This article first
appeared at RealClearMarkets.com and is reprinted with permission.
Courtesy
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