“The problem with the aid-dependency model is, of course, that Africa is fundamentally kept in its child-like state.” – Dambisa Moyo
VENTURES AFRICA – Did you know that most countries in Africa cannot afford, neither have sufficient of efficient disaster management systems, teams or aid? Has the promise of Africa’s development been that of a phantom pain, that in reality is really a phantom promise?
Africa has been receiving aid since 1975. This is two years before I was born. 40 years later, Africa is still dependent on Aid. Once ranked poorer than the DRC, South Korea was offered about $60 billion in grants and loans by the US between 1946 and 1978. For the same period, aid provided by the US to the entire African continent was $68.9 billion. Comparatively, in 32 years, South Korea became a first world country. Africa who received more for the same period, excluding aid from other developed nations, remains on life support.
The Story of the Phantom Opera
Phantom of the Opera attempts to put out to the audience to see, what some psychologists term “the drama of the contact with the unconscious.” It is a journey into the mind of a young, aspiring opera singer who hears a voice promising her that she can penetrate the core of music and become a great singer. This is the voice of the phantom of the opera, but it is also, to use some of her words, an Angel (of music), a phantom inner tutor and genius, and her guide and guardian. To meet this Angel and to learn from him, she must turn away “from that gaudy light of day” and towards him. In particular, she must turn from her boyfriend and his invitation to dinner, towards another world of dreams and imagination. This leans towards her inner being, deep insider her. In this world she has already met the phantom guide and has begun to teach her the secrets of music and life – a life that she knows nothing of. This is the fantasy created for hundreds of millions of Africans.
Spectacularly, Africa has also looked in the wrong places for direction and development, regarded rather as “Rich Beggars”. Take the DRC; it stands out as an economic development model to be shunned. We as South Africans ran to Taiwan, Brazil and India for models of development and neglected to look in the direction of South Korea and Vietnam. They are, together with Thailand, the epitome of what development models for developing economies should look like. Vietnam however also has a vigilant, strong authoritarian streak.
In Vietnam, development is underscored by the importance of ownership. The government, rather than seek out donations, set out the poverty reduction agenda like the MDG’s and at times has rejected the advice of international institutions.
Consider that exports were and till this remain key to South Korea’s industrial expansion and growth. Africa has yet to reach a recognisable level of industrialisation. Until 1986 the value of Korean imports was greater than their exports. South Korea inverted and in 1986 registered a positive balance of trade totalling $4.2 billion. So in just 20 years South Korea has turned itself around completely and now in addition has become a leader in the mobile communications and mobile computing industry through Samsung.
Africa needs to learn to negotiate their international aid in a more conservative manner. But before this, must learn to manage donor aid more effectively. The outflows of capital through corruption are testament to the ill intentions of the continent’s leaders.
South Korea used aid to facilitate growth in its domestic markets, ultimately giving rise to less dependence on international aid and imports. By contrast, Africa has failed in this regard. The disproportion of domestic market to domestic supply chains and exporting from African countries continues to reflect Africa’s inability to leverage it’s own strengths as a propeller for economic independence.
Africa needs to by-pass the aid and turn it into foreign equity with a return to sender date and interest rate. The question will always remain – do African leaders really have the interest of their people at heart?
