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Is Angelina Bad for Africa?
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In a new book, controversial economist Dambisa Moyo argues that aid to African countries, whether from governments or celebrities, is actually doing more harm than good.
“I’m not such a baddie,” Dambisa Moyo said, with the uneasy laugh of a woman who knows she’s a target. The young Zambian and I were just wrapping up a pleasant conversation about her incendiary new book, Dead Aid, which argues that foreign assistance to Africa actually makes her home continent poorer and more conflict-prone. The book has become a sensation, in part because of its gleeful disparagement of the kind of tabloid philanthropy practiced by Angelina Jolie, which has in turn made Moyo into something of a paradox: an anti-celebrity celebrity. She squeezed in our talk between two television tapings, one with CNN and the other with Charlie Rose; ahead was a gala book party at the Four Seasons, hosted by the billionaire free marketer Steve Forbes. A former investment banker who speaks with the elegantly indeterminate accent of a longtime expatriate, Moyo explained her argument: If Western countries cut off almost all of their aid, African governments would be forced to improve themselves in order to appeal to the bond markets and new private investors, especially from China. To her many vocal detractors—such as the economist and antipoverty crusader Jeffrey Sachs—Moyo is, at best, a shill for right-wing ideologues, and at worst an accomplice to death by neglect. She shrugs off the criticism because she says little of it comes from Africans.
Read an excerpt from Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid
Reading your book reminded me of many conversations I used to have when I lived in Uganda. Why is it that so many young, smart, educated Africans are so critical of aid?
I think the world as a whole should be critical of aid. It’s not necessarily the case that it’s only educated Africans. Many Africans on the ground that are not that educated are also critical, but perhaps they don’t have the platform upon which to be more vocal about it.
I think it’s a very different perspective to a lot of Americans. People must have that reaction: “Why aren’t you grateful?”
People understand incentive structures, and if they understood that aid actually gets rid of positive incentives—so we shouldn’t be grateful because it’s not actually making us do better, it’s making us do worse—perhaps they would be much more critical.
You took a class at Harvard with End of Poverty author Jeffrey Sachs. I saw he recently said something about your book to the effect of: “She wouldn’t say this if she had a child in an African village.”
I think that Professor Sachs is being slightly intellectually dishonest. Because as I said, I took his course, where he spent all of his time talking about the virtues of the market for Europe, Poland, Russia, Bolivia. And then somehow he has dedicated his life in the last few years toward pushing more aid to Africa, which is a model he did not support when he taught me. So, what I would love to hear from him is what is it that he sees as different about Africa and Africans.
Dead Aid: How Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a better Way for Africa. 208 pages. Farrar, Straus &Giroux. $24.
But beyond that he seems to forget that myself—and perhaps other Africans who are on the international stage and talking about these issues—we do come from rural Africa, our parents are from rural Africa, our families suffer the consequences of an economic system that’s failed because of aid on a daily basis.
Do you, like many successful Africans, support an extended family network?
Absolutely.
How many people are dependent on you?
Around 10 people. By that I mean providing education, providing health care, daily living, subsistence and so on. These are by and large able-bodied Africans who could do something and want to do something.
When I read your book I was surprised because it actually makes just one brief mention of Bono. I kept waiting for the screed to come.
I am so glad that you say this. Frankly, we don’t care about the celebrity culture, because there’s a bigger issue here. The celebrities are a complete red herring. They are wrong to be pushing more aid to Africa, but you know I don’t blame them. Perhaps they are just not familiar with the economic arguments that I lay out in the book about why it doesn’t work. Maybe they should read that and brush up.
The thing that I find particularly disappointing and objectionable, vis-à-vis the celebrity culture, is that they perpetuate a negative stereotype of Africa. I have never, ever, seen any celebrity stand up and say, “Guys, this continent has problems but you know what, look at these positive things that are happening. They have 15 stock markets.”
So aid is about making people like me feel generous.
That’s the contrast between the aid model, which is rooted in pity, and the Chinese model, which is rooted in a sense of business. People need jobs, they want jobs. They don’t want pity.
"Frankly, we don’t care about the celebrity culture, because there’s a bigger issue here. The celebrities are a complete red herring."
If aid was having this deleterious effect on their growth, wouldn’t it be showing up?
The numbers that you’re just talking about are just over the last few years. We’ve had 60 years of $1 trillion or more of aid. What you’re pointing to right now is in spite of aid, not because of it. If you stripped out the role of the Chinese in these estimates, I’m pretty sure we’d still be on a path of destruction.
But if some of the countries that are receiving the most aid are also doing the best in terms of economic growth.
I see what you’re saying. I don’t agree with you at all.
How does the current economic crisis affect the prescriptions in your book?
If you look at the traditional markets, U.S. and Europe, of course things are really bad. But I think that there’s a lot of scope for African governments to start to look at nontraditional markets, the Middle East and China—who, by the way, continue to invest in the continent even despite these dire situations.
Yes, the markets are challenging, but we know that at some point the system will be back. Should it not be important to emphasize that African countries should be ready to participate in the economy when the market comes back? What does that mean? That means things like getting a credit rating, which have been traditionally a first step toward accessing the market. Why aren’t African governments focusing on the fact that there are only 15 countries out of 50 countries in Africa that have a credit rating?
The Institute of International Finance estimates that net private capital flows to emerging markets are going to fall to about $165 billion this year, down about 80 to 90 percent from where they were in 2007. Would it really be a good idea to cut African countries off right now when they don’t have these backup options?
Why do they not have backup options? They should have prepared. But we’ve lulled everybody in this false sense of security. That it’s OK, don’t worry, you can get more aid. Well, this might be the wakeup call that they need.
Is your book available in Zambia yet? Can Africans read it?
It’s been sold in Lusaka. It’s not as widespread yet as I had hoped.
So would you support a subsidy program to allow Africans to buy it?
Absolutely not. That’s aid!
Andrew Rice’s first book, The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget: Murder and Memory in Uganda, will be published in May by Metropolitan Books. He is a contributing editor at Condé Nast Portfolio and a contributing writer at the New York Times magazine. Between 2002 and 2004, he lived in Uganda as a fellow of the nonprofit Institute of Current World Affairs.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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Vanished in Uganda
Andrew Rice’s first book, The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget: Murder and Memory in Uganda, will be published in May by Metropolitan Books. He is a contributing editor at Conde Nast Portfolio and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. Between 2002 and 2004, he lived in Uganda as a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs, an American nonprofit foundation.
My Murder in the Heart of Africa
Andrew Rice’s first book, The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget: Murder and Memory in Uganda, will be published in May by Metropolitan Books. He is a contributing editor at Conde Nast Portfolio and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. Between 2002 and 2004, he lived in Uganda as a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs, an American nonprofit foundation.
doko84
I think that Moyo has a good point, but I also think she has a misdirected sense of pride. I understand her frustration with all of the foreign influence in Africa, but I think to say that there should be no aid at all is too extreme of a position to take, considering that foreign aid can and has done good there.
However, I agree that some of the concern for Africa, especially from celebrities, can be a little questionable. I often wonder whether people like Angelina really care about the welfare of the country, or are just trying to stroke their own ego by being culturally aware. Though it is understandable that these celebs feel the need to atone for being some of the most perversely rich people on the planet.
exploora
Africa was forced into slavery for how long long, and cause og this free labour, western countries progressed at a much faster speed, and really should compensate Africa for the damage that was done to their development.
exploora
I meant: Africa was forced into slavery for how long, and cause of this free labour, western countries progressed at a much faster speed, and really should compensate Africa for the damage that was done to their development.
Write a book saying that, and it won't sell. Write a book about what people want to hear it will sell.
Help the poor Africans by not helping them, then you save money, hallelujah, then we will have more coins for ourselves with God we trust written all over them, and we will be helping the Africans who we enslaved for how many years, and raped and pillaged etc etc.
godlessliberal
The realization I came to when I visited Africa a few years ago is that the problem is not that Africa is dependent on foreign aid. The problem is that in Africa there are very few, if any legitimate leaders. Almost all the leaders are extremists that muscle their way into power leaving many dead bodies on their trail. The aid that is given to African countries never goes to the people, it goes into swiss bank accounts. When we give aid to African countries there needs to be better oversight of how the money is spent. In any country in Africa you see that the leaders and their families have extravagant life styles while the rest of the country lives in extreme poverty.
Eloge7
this Mayo person is ridiculous.
there is no where in the world where wealth is fairly distributed and the self help narrative she is advocating does not tell us where to start but rather trashes those who try to do the good that she her self is not willing to do.
if she believes that African governments should do so much, why doesn't she run for office there and show us an example of how exactly not help is much help.
what has this world come to.
a race to the bottom.
need better stories
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n--Y--maladaptedxochk4
I wish AR had asked DM about the role that post-colonialist sentiment has played in sending aid to africa. I heard Moyo speak not too long ago and she made a good point: more than 50% of the African population hasn't lived through colonialism, and we have to move away from that discourse if we're ever going to move away from the pity that gets projected onto the continent. Most people--educated or not--I know would almost prefer (whether publicly or not) that Africa just quietly go away. As she argues, we've pumped such huge sums of money into the continent and it is still on a path to destruction. If the West continues to write blank checks (and, repeatedly, no less) to corrupt African governments, where is the incentive for these individual countries to pull themselves out of their dire situations? It just isn't there.
Wuralo
I agree with her. @Eloge7, I think she is telling us where to start: stopping the depency on aid in Africa. That seems like a reasonable starting point. We are not lacking the money or natural resources in Africa, only governments and institutions willing to do what it takes to fix things. We owe it to ourselves to straighten up instead of waiting for handouts or "compensation" for our years in slavery. I imagine you've never been to Africa that's why you can say she should run for office there...lol. A simple google search will tell you something about the election process in Africa. Heard of Mugabe?
Wuralo
I agree with her, this is something that needs to be said, gonna go buy this book.
Helenann
"People understand incentive structures, and if they understood that aid actually gets rid of positive incentives-so we shouldn't be grateful because it's not actually making us do better, it's making us do worse-perhaps they would be much more critical."
Precisely why the American system of welfare is generational...who WANTS to get off the government's check? To apply this to another arena, welfare 'enables' people,thus creating a perpetual culture of recipients.
MinnesotaLilly
Wow. I've always said this. What Africa needs is incentive for the governments of all those countries. Africa has been a mess for so long; the beautiful citizens of those countries will never be able to develop and express themselves with the kinds of politics going on there. It is tragic.
I have contributed money only to causes that provide BIRTH CONTROL to African women. African women are among the most downtrodden - depending on the country, of course. Women raise children... and women need to be able to control how many children they have.
I never have and never will contribute to food for Africans. This may sound cruel - but have you been there? I have. I love
Africa and its people! But providing food is like taking pain medication for your tumor and not seeing a doctor. The tumor grows and you end up with no amount of medication helping you.
It is a MASSIVE tragedy. The best help for Africa is to do what is best for this continent to develop - politically, economically, and otherwise.
clemmieo
I think aid is a good thing if there are strings attached to it. To say for example that the more prosperous countries will give aid and continue to give aid for infrastructure, clinics, medicines and aid in the form of doctors, nurses, engineers, etc. And it has to be monitored by dedicated, serious people. Once there is plentiful food,water and education along with good roads and strong buildings, residential and commercial, then we can leave people on their own. But giving money away with no strings only allows leaders to aggrandize themselves. This is not such a Utopian idea. If countries like the US and Europe had given money this way a long time ago, the entire continent would be far more stable in spite of differences between various ethnic groups. I lived in Nigeria for many years after the Civil War and believe me, everyone wanted to rest from the fighting and work to make their country a better place for them to live. With experienced people in all specialties, there was a great deal of building of all types going on; how it was monitored I do not know because sadly, it did not last indefinitely. And even with all its oil, it is back to bad roads, and other crumbling infrastructure. And violence to see who controls the oil. When a country is ruled by another, when that ruling country leaves, it should in all conscience leave it better than it was before the takeover. England certainly did not do that with Nigeria.
kolakidd
As a person who has lived and grown up in Africa, specifically South Africa, I'm a little sick and tired of this trend of wanting only African Solutions to African problems.
Yes, I agree that most of colonialism (both European and Asian) was the destructive imposition of foreign boundaries, beliefs and moralities on cultures which were essentially developed in their own right. I also believe that most solutions to African issues are developed in foreign boardrooms and conferences without a consultative process, but approach of people like Moyo and and the Organisation of African unity to insist that Africa can sort out it's own problems without interference is frankly too radical and is resulting in far more damage than benefit.
Recent attempts to block the arrest warrant of Omar al-bashir (shamefully this was an attempt made by my countries own Thabo Mbeki), or the prolonged tolerance of tin-pot dictators like Robert Mugabe are evidence of this. These are genocidal freaks who deserve who deserve to be thrown to the very people they oppress, rather than indulged at bungling "negotiation" conferences whose only real goal is seemingly to wag a defiant finger at the West.
Moyo's attitude toward aid is one dimensional and based on her privileged background, I'm pretty sure many of Zimbabwean refugees I see on a daily basis would to differ with her attitude toward aid.
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dutchess
the problem with Africa is indeed that they have no leaders. more than that is that for too long people have suggested one dimensional solutions to multi-dimensional problems. Ms Moyo's assertion that aid has hindered African growth is not far off the mark, it has killed peoples incentive in many countries, and in some cases we see groups of people insisting that the west owes it to them for colonialism...with such mentalities we shall not see growth. but the solution is not to cut off aid: how many people will starve as we wait for the leaders (that Africa is yet to breed!) to organise themselves? Aid models do indeed need to be rethought and so does this issue of China. Growing up in a country that has so recently become best friends of China, I worry at the price Africa will pay for linking itself and placing itself in the hands of this powerful nation.
Sadly Africa NEEDS the it, im not willing to stand around and watch people die! It also NEEDS the business partners, we cant feed the dying forever, we eventually want them to feed themselves. More than anything we need leaders, visionaries, solutions to tribalism, as well as a general overhaul of African politics, it shall take time and effort....not just China!!
Thank you.
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