An advocate of a new aid regime

Dambisa Moyo was a Global Economist at Goldman Sachs in London. She had previously worked at the World Bank in Washington DC. A native of Zambia, Southern Africa, Dambisa holds a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University and a Masters from Harvard. She is the author of the book titles Dead AID: Destroying the Biggest Global Myth of Our Time. In the book, she argues that post-war aid policy has in fact made the poor poorer and has slowed growth in developing countries. Below are some excerpts from an interview she had with The New York Times. Q: You argue in your book that Western aid to Africa has not only perpetuated poverty but also worsened it, and you are perhaps the first African to request in book form that all development aid be halted within five years. A: Think about it this way — China has 1.3 billion people, only 300 million of whom live like us, if you will, with Western living standards. There are a billion Chinese who are living in substandard conditions. Do you know anybody who feels sorry for China? Nobody. Maybe that’s because they have so much money that we here in the U.S. are begging the Chinese for loans. Forty years ago, China was poorer than many African countries. Yes, they have money today, but where did that money come from? They built that, they worked very hard to create a situation where they are not dependent on aid. What do you think has held back Africans? I believe it’s largely aid. You get the corruption — historically, leaders have stolen the money without penalty — and you get the dependency, which kills entrepreneurship. You also disenfranchise African citizens, because the government is beholden to foreign donors and not accountable to its people. If people want to help out, what do you think they should do with their money if not make donations? Microfinance. Give people jobs. (Excerpts from Time Magazine)