Page 51 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 15

Leadership

high service obligations that have
denied the execution of important
projects and programs.

Aid to Africa has never matched
the continent’s needs. Moreover, aid
does not always go where develop-
ment demand would naturally draw
it. Aid may not even be correlated
with human development, the way
that it is expected to. A respected
Congolese human rights activist
worse than any other country. This ization to sell off the public assets called Kambale Musavuli spoke on
was because we were dependent of the recipient countries cheaply to how western countries dictate or
on other countries economically foreigners (often after a significant suggest to the Congolese govern-
through foreign aid, grants, or loans. devaluation of the local currency ment to use the foreign aid money
resulting from debt defaults), the on the mining sector (specifically the
A clear example of this was the removal of controls on imports, and eastern part of Congo). This goes
IMF Executive Board Approving the export of capital. on to show you how foreign aid is
US$4.3 Billion in Emergency Sup- not even given to African countries
port to South Africa to Address the These aims mean that the aid primarily to improve African coun-
COVID-19 Pandemic. This was just agencies support only pro-Western tries and improving African lives,
one clear example of how African and often repressive governments, but rather strengthen western neo
countries jumped to the west for some of them the product of colonialism.
support when in fact it just puts us US-supported military coups, while
into more severe debt and effective- patriotic and sovereign governments As you can see, Africans must
ly helps them control our African who try to protect and develop their understand the neo-colonial agenda
countries more efficiently. industries and improve the well-be- that western countries have in place
ing of their people are vilified by to pursue our resources, lands, and
We can also look closely at the very the Western mainstream media and people. We can see a very interesting
idea that aid aims to reduce poverty become the target of uprisings, and critical perspective from Mark
which is incorrect and deceiving to coups and invasions planned and Langan who wrote an article called
the African people. Instead, it is an organized by the West. We need to ‘Let’s talk about Neo-colonialism in
important function of Western im- understand the ramifications of not Africa.
perialism. In the majority of cases, building towards a self-sustaining
the actual function of publicized Africa and the biggest issues of not Mark Langan is quoted here say-
aid from Western governments and creating a self-sustainable model ing “As defined by Kwame Nk-
their agencies, including the World that can work for Africans and rumah – the first president of an
Bank and the IMF, is to subsidize benefit us whilst also protecting us independent Ghana – the concept
and facilitate the operations of the from western countries and China of neo-colonialism warns us of
corporations and banks of the West. specifically. the potential regressive impact of
unregulated forms of aid, trade and
Aid was, and is, therefore used by We need to understand as African foreign direct investment in relation
governments and big aid agencies people the role that foreign aid plays to poverty reduction and wellbeing
to ensure that the governments that in hindering our development as a in African countries. The concept
receive the money adopt policies continent. Since many African coun- underscores how African state sov-
that favor not necessarily capital- tries do not have enough resources ereignties can be reduced to mere
ism itself, but the interests of the to fund their development, they “flag independence” by external
foreign corporations and banks, have to rely on foreign aid. While policy interference and economic
in particular, those that target less some aid is in the form of grants, control. It does not deny that Afri-
developed countries they have yet to the bulk comes in the form of loans. can elites may engage in wrongdo-
adequately entrench themselves in. This has escalated the external debt ing – whether corruption, nepotism
These institutions demand privat- burdens of African countries, with or human rights abuses. On the

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