Development Without Aid

Particularly prevalent among African officialdom, there is a disturbing mindset, that somehow development is impossible without the intervention of foreign aid. The former President of the Republic of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, wept before the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1973, in an appeal to the rich nations of the world to come to the aid of Africa in crisis. More recently the Finance Minister of Kenya, in announcing proposals for the reform of the Kenyan public service, indicated that this would involve drastic reduction in the size of the government bureaucracy. Predictably, he appealed to the rich donor nations to come to the aid of Kenya by providing a "safety net" for those of the Kenyan public service who must inevitably be laid off. On October 27, 1999, the Deputy Finance Minister of Ghana announced before Parliament that the Government of Ghana had not been able to balance its budget because foreign aid expected from donor nations to support the Government's budget had not been received in full.' In November, with the World Bank as midwife, the donor countries delivered. Presumably, the Government of Ghana was then able to balance its budget. This pernicious habit of living beyond one's means and expecting to be bailed out by benefactors is ominous for Africa, because it tends to perpetuate a cadeau mentality and a psychology of helplessness that leads to poor performance, apathy and corruption.