Wikileaks reveals failures of Western aid in Africa

I've always had this thought in my mind, Like I know there are many African nations that need grants, loans from Western nations, But when I look at a handful of countries, the amount of money handed down to these nations has done little or no progress to aid their development and for countries that have benefited from them the amount of benefits does not equal to the amount of money practically handed down to them. I don't believe giving someone money to help him, I believe in giving him a job  and I know aids have really helped in some processes and some areas and it would be stupid to say they completely are useless coz believe it or not some countries survive on them! But I think we need a little cutback to walk on our own just a little bit.When western nations resolve to donors and grants for 1 decade, 2 decades and there is still little or no progress, I think its high time to use another method. Business,Trade. That's would solve a lot. Wikileaks which i have been paying close attention to, has recently revealed a 'failure feelin' if you know what I mean..this really made my think..wow. they see it too?

I'm one of those people who do believe that western Aids are hurting Africa,  Unlike China, which used to be comparably poor but has thrived on its own dime and is now expected to be the next world power in 20 years or 15, Africa is expected to depend on foreign aid for growth! I dont believe anyone can grow on dependence,sure it will solve a few matters infrastructure, agricultural here and there but that dependent state of mind does not bring about creativity in any way.If these aids were switched to trade I think we'd have more to benefit, and so the presidents will complain but we need to learn to create things, to invent things, to make our own stuff coz God Knows where I'm from even the pins are made in China!Its sad that we dont produce much  and even when we produce, people still opt for western goods.When we start producing for our own demand fully and when we have support of the west and their demand for the stuff we produce and their need for our exports, that is when all their money would be helpful,in trade.( But I dont mean that countries that are affected with hunger and extreme poverty should be cut off, they are out of this topic)

I used to think Western Nations were obliged to to give aids to Africa until I heard the views of a woman called Damisa Moyo Please read this It will change your mind on the way you look at things! I do not completely abide with all her views because I have my own but I stand up with the Idea that we need to stand up a bit a string away from donors
Issuing a bond would require that the president and the cabinet ministers go out and market their country. Why would they do that when they can just call up the World Bank and say, 'Can I please have some money?'- Dambisa MoyoI believe it’s largely aid [that has held Africa back]. You get the corruption—historically, leaders have stolen the money without penalty—and you get the dependency, which kills entrepreneurship. 
- Dambisa MoyoYou may not agree with  me but you just cant escape the fact that too much of these western aids are just being laundered and misused .


  And apparently the Wikileaks revealed the same... I've been following wikileaks for a while trying to get something that interests me until now..

It really shouldn’t comes as a huge surprise that African governments have become tired of the West’s indulgent aid and development programs that place a significantly higher emphasis on “process” over actual results.  No doubt though that the latest damning Wikileaks release will shock, SHOCK, many in the Washington aid business as it reveals an increasingly painful truth that African governments find the USA’s and other Western governments’ obsession with “capacity building” to be tiresome.  Instead, according to the Kenyan ambassador to Beijing, Julius Ole Sunkuli, China’s focus on producing tangible results with its investment and development programs are far more preferable to many African governments.

Sunkuli claimed that Africa was better off thanks to China’s practical, bilateral approach to development assistance and was concerned that this would be changed by “Western” interference. He said he saw no concrete benefit for Africa in even minimal cooperation. Sunkuli said Africans were frustrated by Western insistence on capacity building, which translated, in his eyes, into conferences and seminars (REF C). They instead preferred China’s focus on infrastructure and tangible projects.

After all, why would any African government choose to have dozens of very well paid USAID officials write endless reports, attend numerous conferences that generate yet more reports all to little or no effect?  While this may seem like an exaggeration, the amount of bureaucracy and paperwork that has come to dominate the American aid process cannot be overstated.  Pretty much everyone inside the US aid industry itself will tell you, largely off the record, how demoralizing it is to be buried in spreadsheets and reports while producing little to no tangible benefit for those supposedly intended to benefit from American “aid.”

China’s emergence in Africa as a counterbalance to U.S. and European donors has been very positive for Africa by creating “competition” and giving African countries options. — US Embassy Beijing cable 2/11/2010

The level of self-righteousness on the part of US aid supporters is simply staggering.  One can only hope that this blunt assessment of the US aid process and the preference for Chinese projects that produce tangible results will serve as a long overdue wake-up call to an industry that desperately needs a new moral compass.

I think the number of Chinese interested in  Africa should ring a bell, theres no such thing as free lunch, their interest is driven by something, poverty concerns yes but comercial objectives as well,ample competition for everyone to wake up and produce better but it seems everyone is still sleeping and the competitor is taking over,sadly . we have to wake up from this sleep. The only thing i got out of this was that the west is starting to realize that donors and aids are not doing as a good job to economies in Africa. Though I'm not taking sides, or much rather taking China's side although i do like that China doesnt donate to Africa..China trades but still the downside is i think Africa still gets the smaller part of the bargain something that our leaders need to work a little bit on.