Aid to Africa: So Much To Do, So Little DoneWhy, despite decades of high levels of foreign aid, has development been so disappointing in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to rising numbers of poor and fueling political instabilities? While not ignoring the culpability of Africans in these problems, Carol Lancaster finds that much of the responsibility is in the hands of the governments and international aid agencies that provide assistance to the region. The first examination of its kind, Aid to Africa investigates the impact of bureaucratic politics, special interest groups, and public opinion in aid-giving countries and agencies. She finds that aid agencies in Africa often misdiagnosed problems, had difficulty designing appropriate programs that addressed the local political environment, and failed to coordinate their efforts effectively. This balanced but tough-minded analysis does not reject the potential usefulness of foreign aid but does offer recommendations for fundamental changes in how governments and multilateral aid agencies can operate more effectively. |
Contents
AfricaSo Little Development? | 14 |
Aid and Development in Africa | 36 |
The Donors | 74 |
France and Britain | 114 |
Sweden Italy Japan | 147 |
The Multilaterals | 184 |
Findings | 220 |
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Common terms and phrases
ACP countries activities African countries African governments agriculture aid agencies aid and development aid donors aid in Africa aid programs aid-funded allocation amounts of aid autonomy bilateral aid Botswana British aid broad budget capacity coun devel developing countries Development Assistance Committee Development Cooperation development in Africa diplomatic economic effectiveness of aid Ethiopia European example finance foreign aid France French aid funding Ghana goals growth impact implementation important increase independence influence Information and Evaluation institutions International investment involving Italian aid Ivory Coast Japan Japanese aid Japanese government Kenya lending levels of aid Lome Convention major ment million Ministry NGOs nomic OECF opment organizations overall percent policies political poverty pressures problems programs in Africa projects and programs reforms region Report role sector Somalia staff strategies Sub-Saharan Africa Swedish aid Tanzania technical assistance tion U.S. aid United USAID Washington weak World Bank Zambia