Foreign Aid in Africa

By: Ryan Persaud

Communication
Foreign Aid is at all time high
Inquiry: Is foreign aid hurting impoverished African countries?

Who Is Affected
The majority of African Countries receive foreign aid
The citizens (indirectly) and government (directly)

Find Me Unafraid
In Find Me Unafraid Kennedy used his resources to help others from
within a community instead of an outside government doing it all.
This is far more effective than to receive outside aid.

Pre Health (Med)

Foreign Aid includes medical equipment, volunteer doctors, and
vaccines.
Research shows that the vaccines and medicine are very beneficial for
more than short term.
Sick people cant work.

Analysis
Many economists argue that foreign aid does more harm than good long
term
Infrastructure and medicine work the best for aid.

General Public
The public thinks helping Africa is good and constantly has charities,
donations, food drives, clothing, and money sent
This is on top of all the foreign aid the government directly sends
Video

Taboo
It is taboo to go against charities and donations.
How could giving people something for free do them harm
Only recently have people been able to use the data from decades of
research to back up the idea that foreign aid is largely ineffective and
sometimes detrimental

Research
From Lessons from 10 case studies Only where African countries
where policy reform went along with aid, was there meaningful change.
Corruption and foreign dependence were shown in the countries without
policy reform.

Research
Food production has decreased in one part of the world, Africa.
Food donations have made many African countries dependent

Research
There is two school of thought when it comes to African Aid being
detrimental
(Africa Tomorrow: Issues in Technology, Agriculture, and U.s. Foreign
Aid.)
Free goods given to African countries put small business and
entrepreneurs out of competition. It floods the market and artificially
lowers prices. This stifles economic growth.
(Gibson, Clark C. The Samaritan's Dilemma: The Political Economy of
Development Aid. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.)
The other is the samaritan's dilemma. A person who receives
charity will either use it beneficially to improve their life, or rely on it to

Reflection
The answer is that aid can be harmful to African Countries but not
always.
Infrastructure, medicines, coupled with policy reform has shown to be
effective.
The best type of aid is one that makes countries self sufficient and
productive.
Giving away free food, clothes, and money alone is not effective.

Questions Raised
How can corruption be better controlled in countries who receive Aid?
What things should charities be doing instead of food, clothing, and
monetary donations?
I would start looking at a stipulation that countries who receive aid have
to include policy reform.
It has showed me that Doctors and medicine are still effective at
helping impoverished areas.

Sources
Africa Tomorrow: Issues in Technology, Agriculture, and U.s. Foreign Aid. Washington, D.C: Congress of
the United States, Office of Technology Assessment, 1984. Print.
Devarajan, Shantayanan, David Dollar, and Torgny Holmgren. Aid and Reform in Africa: Lessons from
Ten Case Studies. Washington, D.C: World Bank, 2001. Internet resource.
Gibson, Clark C. The Samaritan's Dilemma: The Political Economy of Development Aid. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2005. Print.
Guest December 17 2012. (2014). Ugandan politicians, communities sign pact against corruption.
Retrieved December 01, 2016, from https://www.one.org/us/2012/12/17/ugandan-politicians-communitiessign-pact-against-corruption/
Riddell, Roger. Foreign Aid Reconsidered. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. Print.