Monday, August 16, 2010

Developing Africa - or not

Kurt Gerhardt, a former journalist and German development aid specialist, explains in Der Spiegel why Africa has failed to develop.

It's not that the West hasn't spent enough money: it's that we've spent too much, draining local initiative and thus ensuring that things never get better. The direct beneficiaries of the assistance may prosper, as do the Westerners supported by the development aid industry, but the average African does not.

Gerhardt argues that the West must recognize that Africans need to take control of their own destiny; Westerners can't do it for them.

Do you think this message will ever get through?

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