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August 03, 2005
Tesfamichael: Just Help Africa Help Herself
Gebreselassie Yosief Tesfamichael, a former Eritrean finance minister now living in Washington, D.C., notes in an August 2, 2005 guest commentary in the Union Leader of Manchester, New Hampshire , that: Since the 1950s, when most of Africa achieved independence, billions of dollars have been spent on aid and development. So why is the gap between the continent and the rest of the world widening instead of narrowing?
The problem is that the aid community has been determining how Africa should go about development. Thirty 30 African governments have produced national development programs from the same externally designed template: the World Bank/International Monetary Funds so-called poverty-reduction strategy papers. All are aimed at obtaining the most aid possible.
"We continue to ignore the stark lesson that externally imposed development models haven't gotten us far," Mr. Tesfamichael wrote. "The only way forward is for Africa to drive its own bus and for the driver and passengers to be in full agreement about where they're going. That said, we do need help filling up the tank."
See "In Africa, just help us to help ourselves" for more of his commentary.
Posted by Munir Umrani at August 3, 2005 06:48 AM
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