We all know the ad. It generally comes on around two AM when there is literally nothing else to watch on TV. The commercial comes in multiple iterations, but it generally involves some sort of well-dressed, sightly-overweight white man walking through an African slum describing how miserable life is for the children of Africa. Cut to the shot of an expressionless, swollen-bellied baby, covered in flies and filth. Dane Cook provides a fairly accurate commentary on what I'm talking about:
As an American, the broadcasted images of African life shaped my perspective on the continent as a whole. I came to view it as a distant, poverty-ridden land that was in desperate need of help from the more civilized western nations. Over the years, my understanding of African history, economics, and politics grew, and my opinions on the west's role in international development evolved, but it was not until I got to Tanzania that I really began to see firsthand the effects of international aid, and how foreign "investment" is actually crippling the governments and citizens of Africa.
Full disclosure, I am not an economist or an African historian. I have no background in international development, and I am by no means an expert, but what follows comes from my own experience and research.
Tanzania is an amazingly interesting and diverse country. It has a rapidly-growing tourism industry, has a fairly decent mining and agricultural sector, and, compared to its neighbors, has experienced consistent growth and stability since achieving independence from Britain in 1961. According to the World Bank, Tanzania's GDP has been growing at an average rate of 7% annually since the start of the new millennium.
Interestingly, however, despite its steady growth, Tanzania is still the fourth largest African recipient of Official Development Assistance (ODA), behind the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Kenya. As of 2011, Tanzania was receiving roughly 2.5 billion dollars in international assistance, which is equivalent to almost 10% of the country's GDP.
The influence of the international community can be seen everywhere in the streets of Arusha. Daily I see people wearing Manchester United jerseys and tee shirts that say things like "Penn State Swimming Club". I see little boys at my orphanage wearing girls' pink, bedazzled hoodies, and I see other kids in ill-fitting shoes and dresses that were clearly sent to Africa from some western donor.
Additionally, I see the effects of international aid in the way that I am treated by the locals. When I go to a shop, prices magically seem to rise. When I take the dala dala to my placement, the money collector accidentally forgets to give me the right amount of change. And, my personal favorite, is when I walk down the street, I have this conversation:
Local person: Mzungu! Mambo? (White Person! How are you?)
Me: Poa, vipi? (I'm cool, you?)
Local person: *in English* Give me money.
Me: Hapana! (No!)
It would be easy for me to get upset and frustrated by the constant price gauging and begging from locals, and the assumption that white = wealthy certainly gets old, but, unfortunately, my experiences are a direct result of the influx of money from developed nations, and the methods with which it is used, not the locals.
In her book Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo provides an excellent discussion of how the world is failing the people of Africa through its international aid policies.
In the more unstable African countries, particularly in central and West Africa, aid money is given to authorities at the top levels of government with no guarantee that it will ever be equitably distributed to the people who need it the most. Additionally, desire to access and control foreign aid dollars has fueled corruption and violence in these countries, once again perpetuating the history of armed conflict and rebel activities in more underdeveloped nations.
The influx of free goods such as shoes, clothes, glasses, cell phones, and the like, have also prevented domestic textile and manufacturing industries from gaining traction in some African countries, which, in turn, further weakens their global export business as well as their domestic income.
In Tanzania, the problems wrought by flawed international funding schemes are not nearly as extreme or overt, but they still are visible in every aspect of local culture. For example, despite the billions of dollars pouring into the country, the infrastructure, even in the largest cities, is sub-par, at best. Roads are not well maintained, if they are even paved at all, sanitation and sewage services are ineffective, and power and water are regularly shut off because of inability to keep up with usage in the city. Interestingly, much of the new infrastructure projects, such as highways and roads, are being underwritten by companies out of China and other Asian nations, rather than by the Tanzanian government.
Moreover, very little of the aid money coming into Tanzania is being used to grow domestic industry. The national growth that the country has experienced over the last decade has largely been the result of government spending, but industry remains underdeveloped throughout the country. Though tourism, mining, and agriculture have experienced small gains, investment in business remains scant. In effect, international aid dollars are putting a Band-Aid on the much larger problems of poverty and unemployment, but are not encouraging much domestic or international investment. Simply put, aid dollars are helping to keep the Tanzanian government afloat, but they are not leading to long-term development and financial independence.
It also has to be remembered that government-to-government aid does not come for free. African nations are required to make payments on international aid dollars received, which, in the long term, is detrimental to the governments and citizens of Africa, especially if aid monies are not originally used to fund domestic investment, business, and infrastructure.
So, what is a person to do? How do we help Africa without perpetuating the dependency culture that has been created by decades of flawed international investment?
There is no perfect answer. The road to economic stability and independence in Africa is going to be long, but based on what I've seen since I've been here, I know that the people on this continent are ready and capable to take the reigns of their own country, but they will only be able to do so if people begin to rethink the way they view charity and aid.
The easiest way to help pull Africa out of poverty is to invest your money in microfinance rather than direct aid. The money invested through companies like Kiva go directly to the people who are trying to generate income for themselves and their communities. By getting involved with microfinance organizations, you not only have the ability to choose where your money goes, but you can re-invest your money as many times as you want, making it much more effective than a simple one-time cash donation.
Sponsoring children through companies like Compassion International or World Vision is also another way to get involved on a micro scale. After spending several weeks in Africa, the need for nutrition and education has become clearly visible, and sponsorship is a large concern for a lot of the schools and orphanages where our volunteers work.
Another simple way to help is to be a responsible donor. Do your research and find a specific project or company that you want to donate to. Rather than donating to broad programs, find a specific cause and a specific organization that is very explicit about how donations are used. For example, earlier this year I donated to a small school called Cheti, not knowing that I would soon be living in Tanzania. Now that I'm in Arusha, I have the ability to visit the school and see exactly where my money went. Such an experience would not be possible by donating to a larger, generalized organization.
Be a responsible consumer. There are lots of companies based out of African nations that are doing their part to generate money for their countries. The company that I always point to as a shining example is Sseko, the Uganda-based sandal manufacturer that focuses on women's empowerment, but other companies like African Nature also provide quality products that were created in an ethical work environment. By purchasing from companies like these, people help stimulate the economies of African nations, and they get well-made products out of the deal.
It is going to be a long time before African nations reach the level of development that most westerners would consider "desirable", but if governments, aid organizations, and individuals can reshape the way we view international assistance, I foresee a very stable and bright future for the continent that I am rapidly falling in love with.
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