Friday, 9 December 2011

Africa is pushing for more say in aid spending

Africa recently turned the tables by insisting that "aid effectiveness" should become "development effectiveness" and it looks like it has won the debate. This is not a matter of semantics. Africa insists Africa should lead in decisions about where, how and when aid should be applied. It also insists that "no country in the world has developed by targeting poverty", which has been the predominant tendency in foreign aid. Africa’s new confidence in the international arena also comes from new developments on the continent. First, there has been a substantial improvement in financial governance. Second, most commodity prices have risen a great deal on international markets, accounting for impressive growth. Third, there are new partners in China, India and Brazil, whose economies are thirsty for Africa’s resources.

The change in direction came in Tunis last year, when the African Development Bank (ADB), the African Union (AU) Commission and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), supported by the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (Uneca), called a conference to launch the African Platform for Development Effectiveness.
http://www.nepad.org/crosscuttingissues/news/2579/africa-pushing-more-say-aid-spending 

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