Why Foreign Aid Is Hurting Africa
Benefield, Alicia
February 14, 2013
INR3932-03
Paper 1
Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa
In this article Dambisa Moyo, is arguing that money, in the form of aid given to African nations has not only trapped many of these nations in debt, but has started a cycle of corruption as well as slowed down economic growth and poverty. To solve this isuue Moyo suggests cutting off the flow of aid to these African nations. Many developed countries will gladly give aid to Africa, these countries do not give small donations they donate by the millions. This continued donation of aid has only been putting Africa further in debt. What many do not realize is that aid is not given to Africa freely, the African nations receiving aid must pay this money back plus interest. Moyo provided an example of this stating that “African countries still pay close to $20 billion in debt repayments per annum, a stark reminder that aid is not free. In order to keep the system going, debt is repaid at the expense of African education and healthcare” (Moyo, 2009). This is what is slowing down economic growth and keeping those countries in poverty. A country can not achieve econmic growth if its workforce is not educated, an uneducated workforce means the people in the country have little to no skills. Certain skills are required to get better jobs, if the people are not being adequately educated they will be forced to remain in a state of poverty. Healthcare is alo important, and the countries keep cutting the healthcare budget. If your workforce is not healthy enough to go out and work to spark the economy you can never expect to achieve economic growth.
Education and healthcare budget cuts are not the only problems Moyo discussed that are keeping African nations from developing. Other issues include corruption in the government and developed nations supplying resources for free keeping African producers out of the market. According to the African Union, an organization of African
February 14, 2013
INR3932-03
Paper 1
Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa
In this article Dambisa Moyo, is arguing that money, in the form of aid given to African nations has not only trapped many of these nations in debt, but has started a cycle of corruption as well as slowed down economic growth and poverty. To solve this isuue Moyo suggests cutting off the flow of aid to these African nations. Many developed countries will gladly give aid to Africa, these countries do not give small donations they donate by the millions. This continued donation of aid has only been putting Africa further in debt. What many do not realize is that aid is not given to Africa freely, the African nations receiving aid must pay this money back plus interest. Moyo provided an example of this stating that “African countries still pay close to $20 billion in debt repayments per annum, a stark reminder that aid is not free. In order to keep the system going, debt is repaid at the expense of African education and healthcare” (Moyo, 2009). This is what is slowing down economic growth and keeping those countries in poverty. A country can not achieve econmic growth if its workforce is not educated, an uneducated workforce means the people in the country have little to no skills. Certain skills are required to get better jobs, if the people are not being adequately educated they will be forced to remain in a state of poverty. Healthcare is alo important, and the countries keep cutting the healthcare budget. If your workforce is not healthy enough to go out and work to spark the economy you can never expect to achieve economic growth.
Education and healthcare budget cuts are not the only problems Moyo discussed that are keeping African nations from developing. Other issues include corruption in the government and developed nations supplying resources for free keeping African producers out of the market. According to the African Union, an organization of African
Cited: Foresman, C. (2010)Wireless survey: 91% of Americans use cell phones. [online] Available at: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2010/03/wireless-survey-91-of-americans-have-cell-phones/ [Accessed: 15 Feb 2013]. Moyo, D. (2009) Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa .The Wall Street Journal, p.W1.