Buy new:
-30% $13.36$13.36
This item cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location. Please choose a different delivery location.
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: CT Distributions LLC
Save with Used - Good
$6.31$6.31
This item cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location. Please choose a different delivery location.
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: ZBK Wholesale
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa Paperback – March 2, 2010
Purchase options and add-ons
A national bestseller, Dead Aid unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth. In fact, poverty levels continue to escalate and growth rates have steadily declined―and millions continue to suffer. Debunking the current model of international aid promoted by both Hollywood celebrities and policy makers, Dambisa Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world's poorest countries.
Much debated in the United States and the United Kingdom on publication, Dead Aid is an unsettling yet optimistic work, a powerful challenge to the assumptions and arguments that support a profoundly misguided development policy in Africa. And it is a clarion call to a new, more hopeful vision of how to address the desperate poverty that plagues millions.
- Print length208 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication dateMarch 2, 2010
- Dimensions5.35 x 0.55 x 8.2 inches
- ISBN-100374532125
- ISBN-13978-0374532123
Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Moyo is right to raise her voice, and she should be heard if African nations and other poor countries are to move in the right direction.” ―Jagdish Bhagwati, Foreign Affairs
“Moyo presents a refreshing view.” ―Lisa Miller, Newsweek
“A tightly argued brief . . . Vivid.” ―Matthew Rees, The Wall Street Journal
“An incendiary new book . . . Here is a refreshing voice . . . What makes Dead Aid so powerful is that it's a double-barrelled shotgun of a book. With the first barrel, Moyo demolishes all the most cherished myths about aid being a good thing. But with the second, crucially, she goes on to explain what the West could be doing instead.” ―Christopher Hart, The Daily Mail
“Dambisa Moyo is to aid what Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to Islam. Here is an African woman, articulate, smart, glamorous, delivering a message of brazen political incorrectness: cut aid to Africa. Aid, she argues, has not merely failed to work; it has compounded Africa's problems. Moyo cannot be dismissed as a crank . . . She catalogues evidence, both statistical and anecdotal . . . The core of her argument is that there is a better alternative [and it deserves] to be taken seriously.” ―Paul Collier, The Independent
“The wisdom contained here--if absorbed by African and global policymakers--will turn this chronically depressed continent into an inspiring miracle of dazzling economic growth.” ―STEVE FORBES, President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine
“Dambisa Moyo makes a compelling case for a new approach in Africa. Her message is that Africa's time is now. It is time for Africans to assume full control over their economic and political destiny. Africans should grasp the many means and opportunities available to them for improving the quality of life. Dambisa is hard--perhaps too hard--on the role of aid. But her central point is indisputable. The determination of Africans, and genuine partnership between Africa and the rest of the world, is the basis for growth and development.” ―KOFI ANNAN, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
“Dead Aid is an important book . . . at the very least, [it] provides a first step towards changing how America, and the world, thinks about how to help Africa.” ―Heather Wilhelm, Real Clear World
“Dead Aid is a wonderfully liberating book.” ―Doug Bandow, The Washington Times
“[Moyo's] book offers an analytical, researched approach to restoring life and sufficiency in this developing continent. Dead Aid calls for a new way of thinking . . . After unraveling the myth created by many policymakers and celebrities that Africa simply needs more charity, Moyo poses a series of hopeful alternatives . . . Moyo speaks with both cultural and academic authority, unpacking the full nature of poverty and its regional impact. She unveils the sobering reality that $1 trillion in financial aid has not helped, but rather hindered African economies and their ability to grow into sustainable markets. This book offers a fresh insight into the plight of poverty and a vision for developmental change--the kind of change that could help millions.” ―Curt Devine, Relevant
“Dambisa Moyo's book Dead Aid is a timely book which brings forth what we have been thinking about Western aid, but did not dare to speak out . . . Moyo has shown brilliantly that Western aid, governmental or non-governmental, couldn't help Africa in regard to transforming to a better form of social organization, by which innovation and technological development become possible . . . Moyo shows the strong correlation between increasing aid dependency, corruption and the nature of government structures in many African countries . . . In general Moyo's book is a very challenging book, and addresses our problems. It confronts those aid gurus, like Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, who manipulate the African leaders with their neo-liberal agendas. It is a very good starting point for further discussion, and can contribute to eliminating confusing ideas.” ―Fekadu Bekele, Merkato Blog, Nazret.com
“A radical, counterintuitive solution to the continent's economic problems . . . [Moyo] is unequivocal, not to mention convincing.” ―Jason Zasky, Failure Magazine
“The evidence assessing the impact of aid on economic growth (or the lack thereof) is comprehensive and convincing.” ―Apoorva Shah, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
“Moyo's indictment of the past 50 years of aid-giving is compelling . . . [She] has written a well-informed book, and her passionate commitment to improving Africa's fortunes drips from every page.” ―Jonathan Wright, Geographical
About the Author
Niall Ferguson is Professor of Political and Financial History, Jesus College, Oxford.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Dead Aid
Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for AfricaBy Moyo, DambisaFarrar, Straus and Giroux
Copyright © 2010 Moyo, DambisaAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780374532123
Introduction We live in a culture of aid. We live in a culture in which those who are better o. subscribe - both mentally and financially - to the notion that giving alms to the poor is the right thing to do. In the past fifty years, over US$1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. In the past decade alone, on the back of Live 8, Make Poverty History, the Millennium Development Goals, the Millennium Challenge Account, the Africa Commission, and the 2005 G7 meeting (to name a few), millions of dollars each year have been raised in richer countries to support charities working for Africa. We are made to believe that this is what we ought to be doing. We are accosted on the streets and goaded with pleas on aeroplane journeys; letters flow through our mail boxes and countless television appeals remind us that we have a moral imperative to give more to those who have less. At the 2001 Labour conference, the UK's Prime Minister of the time, Tony Blair, remarked that 'The State of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world', and that the West should 'provide more aid' as, thus far, amidst the multiple problems facing Africa, the continent had received inadequate amounts of aid.¹ Deep in every liberal sensibility is a profound sense that in a world of moral uncertainty one idea is sacred, one belief cannot be compromised: the rich should help the poor, and the form of this help should be aid. The pop culture of aid has bolstered these misconceptions. Aid has become part of the entertainment industry. Media figures, film stars, rock legends eagerly embrace aid, proselytize the need for it, upbraid us for not giving enough, scold governments for not doing enough - and governments respond in kind, fearful of losing popularity and desperate to win favour. Bono attends world summits on aid. Bob Geld of is, to use Tony Blair's own words, 'one of the people that I admire most'. Aid has become a cultural commodity. Millions march for it. Governments are judged by it. But has more than US$1 trillion in development assistance over the last several decades made African people better o.? No. In fact, across the globe the recipients of this aid are worse o.; much worse off Aid has helped make the poor poorer, and growth slower. Yet aid remains a centrepiece of today's development policy and one of the biggest ideas of our time. The notion that aid can alleviate systemic poverty, and has done so, is a myth. Millions in Africa are poorer today because of aid; misery and poverty have not ended but have increased. Aid has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing world. How this happened, how the world was gripped with an idea that seemed so right but was in fact so wrong, is what this book is about. Dead Aid is the story of the failure of post-war development policy. Step by step it will dismantle the assumptions and arguments that have supported the single worst decision of modern developmental. politics, the choice of aid as the optimum solution to the problem of Africa's poverty. The evidence is as startling as it is obvious. It will contrast countries which have rejected the aid route and prospered with others which have become dependent on aid and been trapped in a vicious circle of corruption, market distortion and further poverty - and thus the 'need' for more aid. Others before me have criticized aid. But the myth of its effectiveness persists. Dead Aid will offer a new model for financing development for the world's poorest countries: one that offers economic growth, promises to significantly reduce African poverty, and most importantly does not rely on aid. This book is not a counsel of despair. Far from it. The book offers another road; a road less travelled in Africa. Harder, more demanding, more difficult, but in the end the road to growth, prosperity, and independence for the continent. This book is about the aid-free solution to development: why it is right, why it has worked, why it is the only way forward for the world's poorest countries. Excerpted from DEAD AID by Dambisa MoyoCopyright © 2009 by Dambisa Moyo
Published in 2009 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from the Publisher.
Continues...
Excerpted from Dead Aid by Moyo, Dambisa Copyright © 2010 by Moyo, Dambisa. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Reprint edition (March 2, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 208 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0374532125
- ISBN-13 : 978-0374532123
- Item Weight : 6.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.35 x 0.55 x 8.2 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #150,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Dr. Dambisa Moyo is an international economist who writes on the macroeconomy and global affairs.
She is the author of the New York Times Bestsellers "Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth - and How to Fix It", "Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa", "How The West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly - And the Stark Choices Ahead" and "Winner Take All: China's Race for Resources and What It Means for the World".
Ms. Moyo was named by Time Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World", and was named to the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Forum. Her work regularly appears in economic and finance-related publications such as the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.
She completed a doctorate in Economics at Oxford University and holds a Masters degree from Harvard University. She completed an undergraduate degree in Chemistry and an MBA in Finance at the American University in Washington D.C..
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book excellent, engaging, and well-written. They describe it as informative, thought-provoking, and eye-opening.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book excellent, well-researched, and engaging for non-experts. They say it strikes an excellent balance between readability and thoroughness. Readers also mention the book is well-articulated and a quick read at about 150 pages.
"...A pivotal book. Moyo strikes an excellent balance between readability and thoroughness, referring to numerous academic studies throughout the book..." Read more
"...about economic aid to developing countries, and a surprisingly engaging read for non-experts. Highly recommend." Read more
"...Fortunately, while there is much tedious reading, it is a quick read at about 150 pages (not counting a 24-page bibliography)...." Read more
"...Good first book for Dr. Moyo. I might read some later works to see if she has broadened her interests." Read more
Customers find the book informative, thoroughly researched, and thought-provoking. They say it's an interesting analysis of the effects of aid on the African continent. Readers also appreciate the author's good arguments and entertaining knowledge.
"...A pivotal book...." Read more
"...I have to say that reading the lady's book has been truly refreshing...." Read more
"...is a personal view of the author, however, I think she is very convincing in her arguments...." Read more
"...Very informative, but it definitely needs to be read with discernment, awareness of the danger China poses to the world in general, and Africa in..." Read more
Customers find the book eye-opening, illuminating, and insightful. They say it paints a good picture on the effects of different policies implemented. Readers also mention the book is well-researched and thoughtful.
"I found Dead Aid to be a very nice, concise review of an emerging view that aid is as effective as it is meant to be...." Read more
"...It's definitely a real eye opener and will probably change your perspective on foreign aid in general and on the continent of Africa specifically!" Read more
"...The book is well researched and thoughtful." Read more
"...If you are interested in the reasons for the mess in Africa, this is illuminating, though not quite explicatory, in that there is little about the..." Read more
Customers find the book has an African perspective. They say it's good reading for any proud African and anyone willing to have a clear and strong voice in the noisy development debate.
"...Overall this is a good reading for any proud african, but also to anyboby willing to have a different spot light on the issue of developpement...." Read more
"...book as the charming author is such an obviously wise and well educated African woman...." Read more
"...on this topic and this one really stands out because it has an African perspective and it does not just cover economic theory, but actual issues." Read more
"Excellent book dealing with real Africa issues." Read more
Customers say the book has the opposite effect by promoting corruption and lack of accountability.
"...of providing a basic level of sustenance for a country, aid encourages corruption and locks a country into a cycle of debt that prevents viable..." Read more
"...And here is how. Aid breeds corruption in Africa. If the world has one picture of the African continent, it is one of corrupt statesmen...." Read more
"...In fact it has the opposite effect by promoting corruption, a lack of accountability and political wars by those jostling to be the atop of the..." Read more
"...It is a geophysical fact. #2. Corruption! #3. previous exploitation by the Arab and European colonial powers!..." Read more
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Response:
Moyo makes a compelling argument against broad intergovernmental aid. Nevertheless, one of the primary arguments of Jeffrey Sachs, the developer of the Millennium Development Goals and author of The End of Poverty, is that targeted aid to local communities that increases GDP per capita above $300 breaks the poverty trap and allows for economic progress to begin. Until that trap is broken, households cannot amass enough capital for reinvestment, which is critical for economic growth. As Moyo notes, massive flows of aid to any given country do not produce this effect. Rampant corruption, a lack of growth, and rent seeking by public officials become the norm. In short, aid may be able to alleviate poverty and jumpstart an economy but the problem is with the implementation. Unfortunately, there may not be a reliable way to deliver aid to local communities in Sachs' vision on a broad scale. In which case, stopping aid and pursuing other avenues for raising capital as Moyo advocates may still be the best way to spur economic development throughout Africa.
Secondly, Moyo does not discuss the complexities of trade barriers thoroughly enough. There is little question that Western subsidies on agriculture create a severe impediment to growth throughout emerging economies. However, there is a valid geostrategic argument to be made for not removing the subsidies. Without subsidies, most Western countries would most likely import that vast majority of their food products, creating a potential weakness during conflict.
Taking a realist perspective, removing trade subsidies would tilt the balance of power to countries that may violently challenge the Western hegemony, a risk not worth the increased growth in the developing world. There are also counterpoints to the geostrategic argument as well. A neoliberal would likely argue that increased economic prosperity will result in a greater adoption of democratic norms and then use democratic peace theory (democracies seldom fight each other, therefore, if every country is a democracy there should be relatively little war) to argue that concerns for the balance of power are largely irrelevant. Moyo merely acknowledges that there is a geostrategic argument but does not attempt to debase or critique it.
The Bottom Line:
A pivotal book. Moyo strikes an excellent balance between readability and thoroughness, referring to numerous academic studies throughout the book while keeping the writing and content easily accessible. Whether you are involved with development policy or have simply bought the latest (RED) iPod, you need to read this book.
For more reviews and a summary of Moyo's main points, find us at Hand of Reason.
Moyo notes that the "prospect of seizing power and gaining access to unlimited aid wealth is irresistible."(59) To buttress her argument, she refers to Grossman (1992) who contends that the underlying purpose of rebellion is the capture of the state for financial advantage, and that aid makes such conflict more likely. In the past fifty years, Moyo observes, over US$1trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from the rich countries of the West to Africa. Yet, aid has helped make the poor poorer; economic growth slower.
According to Moyo, the notion that foreign aid can alleviate systemic poverty, and has done so in Africa is tantamount to a myth. Millions in Africa, she notes, are poorer today on account of aid dependency. Indeed, aid has been and continues to be, an unmitigated political and economic and humanitarian disaster for Africa. Aid is not benign--it is malignant. In short, aid is not part of the solution; it is the problem. And here is how.
Aid breeds corruption in Africa. If the world has one picture of the African continent, it is one of corrupt statesmen. With very few exceptions, African leaders have crowned themselves in gold, seized land, handed over state businesses to relatives and friends, diverted billions of aid-money to foreign bank accounts, and generally treated their countries like giant personalized cash dispensers. According to Transparency International, Mobutu Sese Seko of erstwhile Zaire is estimated to have looted the State to the tune of US$5billion.
Roughly the same amount was stolen from Nigeria by President Sani Abacha and placed in Swiss private banks. The list of corrupt practices in Africa is endless. However, the point about corruption in Africa is not that it exists; the point is that foreign aid is one of its greatest aides. Aid creates a vicious cycle of dependency in Africa; a cycle that chokes off desperately needed investment, instills a culture of kleptomania, and facilitates rampant and systematic corruption, all with deleterious consequences for economic growth. It is this cycle, Moyo posits, that "perpetuates underdevelopment, and guarantees economic failure in the poorest aid-dependent countries" (49).
Aid creates a fertile ground for rent-seeking, that is, the use of governmental authority to take and make money without trade or production of wealth. Because foreign aid is fungible--easily stolen, redirected and extracted-- it facilitates corruption. At a very basic level, an example of this is where a government official with access to aid money set aside for public welfare takes the money for his own personal use. Examples are legion in Africa. Foreign aid programs, which tend to lack accountability, and check and balances, act as substitutes for tax revenues.
The tax receipts that aid releases are then diverted to unproductive and often wasteful purposes rather than the productive public expenditure (education, health infrastructure, etc) for which they were ostensibly intended. Moyo points out that in "Uganda, for example, aid-fueled corruption in the 1990s was thought to be so rampant that only 20 cents of every US$1 of government spending on education reached the targeted local primary school."(53)
Strangely enough, Larry Diamond (2004) observes, Western aid agencies, notably the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, continue to give aid to African states, with notorious authoritarian and corrupt governments. His list includes Cameroon, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Angola, Eritrea, Guinea and Mauritania. Africa is the region that receives the largest amount of foreign aid, receiving more per capita in official development assistance than any other region of the world.
Yet her social infrastructure is in a state of utter decrepitude! Moyo notes that any large influx of money into an economy, however robust, has the potential to create serious problems. With the relentless flow of unmitigated, substantial aid money to Africa, these problems are magnified, especially in economies that are, by their very nature, poorly managed, weak and susceptible to outside influence, over which domestic policymakers have little or no control.
Moyo contends that increases in foreign aid are correlated with declining domestic savings rates. As she puts it, "As foreign aid comes in, domestic savings decline; that is, investment falls."(61) She further observes that with all the tempting aid monies on offer, which are notoriously fungible, the relatively few people who have access to it, spend it on consumer goods instead of saving the cash. As savings decline, local banks have less money to lend for domestic investment.
Worse still, foreign aid has an equally damaging crowding-out effect: although aid is meant to encourage private investment by providing loan guarantees, subsidizing investment risks and supporting co-financing arrangements with private investors, in practice it discourages the inflow of such high-quality foreign monies. Moyo points out that empirical research has shown that higher aid-induced consumption leads to an environment where much more money is chasing fewer goods."(61) This almost invariably leads to price rises--inflation.
Over and above, aid chokes off the export sector. This phenomenon is known as the Dutch disease, as its effects were first observed when natural gas revenues flooded the Netherlands in the 1960s, devastating the Dutch export sector and increasing unemployment. Moyo argues that aid inflows have adverse effects on overall competitiveness, export sector (usually in the form of decline in the share of those in the manufacturing sector and ultimately growth).
In the oddest turn of events, the fact that aid reduces competitiveness, and thus the trading sector's ability to generate foreign-exchange earnings, makes countries even more dependent on aid, leaving them exposed to all the negative consequences of aid-dependency. In countries with weak financial systems, additional foreign resources do not translate into growth of stronger financially dependent industries.
So if foreign aid harbors such adverse effects for African economies why are donors bent on doling it out? And why aren't recipients sagacious enough to put an end to the lethal cycle of aid? Moyo's Dead Aid model provides solid answers to these intriguing questions. She notes that "Africa is addicted to aid. For the past sixty years, she says, Africa has been fed aid. Like any addict, Africa needs and depends on its regular fix, finding it hard, if not impossible to contemplate existence in an aid-less world."(75) Her book provides an antidote, a road map for riding Africa of aid dependency.
Arguing that the aid program in Africa has not worked precisely because it was never conceived with the intention of promoting the economic development of Africa, she proposes alternatives to foreign aid. She notes that like the challenges faced by someone addicted to drugs, the withdrawal is bound to be painful. Nonetheless, if implemented in the most efficient way, the solutions offered in Dead Aid will help to dramatically reduce Africa's reliance on aid money.
Moyo cites Botswana as an example of an economic success story in Africa. Botswana began with a high ratio of aid to GDP but used the aid wisely to provide important public goods that helped support good policies and sound governance and laid the foundation for robust economic growth for the country.
She says this stratagem can be replicated all over Africa. Her alternatives to aid, predicated on transparency and accountability, would provide the life-blood through which Africa's social capital and economies will grow. Her Dead Aid strategy leaves room for modest amounts of aid to be part of Africa's development financing strategy. Systematic aid will be a component of her Dead Aid Model, but only insofar as its presence decreases as other financing alternatives take hold. The ultimate goal, as far as Moyo is concerned, is an aid-free Africa.
In a nutshell, Dead Aid proposes radical solutions to the pressing economic problems of our time. It offers a new model for financing development in Africa's poorest countries, one that offers economic growth, promises to significantly reduce endemic poverty, and most importantly, does not rely on aid. Though Moyo is not the first economic pundit to take Western aid donors to task, never has the case against aid been made with such rigor and conviction. She does not pull her punches.
"In a perfect world," she writes, "what poor countries at the lowest rungs of economic development need is not a multi-party democracy, but in fact a decisive benevolent dictator to push through the reforms required to get the economy moving."(xi) Her most radical proposal comes in the form of a rhetorical question: "What if," she asks, "one by one, African countries each received a phone call...telling them that in exactly five years the aid taps would be shut off permanently?"(xi)
Top reviews from other countries
The author of this book was able to share complex ideas in a way that a regular person, like me, would be able to understand. I have read other books written by academically inclined people and was not disappointed to discover that a large section at the end was references that supported the author’s position throughout every chapter of the book.
I think this book is important for someone to read, especially if they are working on projects that are supposed to help the less fortunate. Understanding the already known impact of the kinds of “help” the developed world provides to the developing world is important, in my opinion, to ensure that what happens is actually the desired result. Throughout this book, I found it interesting to see what happened when well-meaning developed countries took actions that were supposed to help those in need and ended up making things worse for the recipients.
I would like to thank the author for writing this book. I feel that it has helped me to better understand how things work in the broader world outside of things that I would have experienced as a person born in Canada. It was an interesting read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in history, economics, and helping people in other countries.
Dambisa Moyo ist als Tochter einheimischer Akademiker in Sambia geboren und aufgewachsen. Mit einem Stipendium studierte sie an der Harvard-Universität und promovierte in Oxford. Sie arbeitete für die Weltbank und für Goldman-Sachs. Diese Karriere deutet den Weg, den ihre Abrechnung mit der 'Entwicklungshilfe' zeigt und den Stil, mit dem sie ihre Argumente platziert. Aus verschiedenen Gründen
bringt sie auf den Punkt, dass solche 'Hilfe' den Völkern Afrikas schadet. Damit ist sie nicht allein. Sie zitiert unter anderem den britischen Gesandten in Kenia, Edward Clay, der davon sprach, dass die korrupte Elite dieses Land sich mit solcher Hilfe überfresse und danach auf die Schuhe der 'Helfer' kotze. Oder Irwin Blumenthal, der vom Weltwährungsfonds in die Zentralbank Zaires (heute DRC) entsandt wurde und angesichts des Dickichts korrupter Strukturen dort nach weniger als einem Jahr entnervt aufgab.
Dieses Buch besteht im Kern jedoch nicht aus solchen Episoden, denen man unzählige andere hinzufügen kann. Sein Wert liegt in vier Vorschlägen für eine wirksame Fiskal- und Wirtschaftspolitik in Afrika und darin, dass mit kaum einem Wort die sonst übliche Leier angestimmt wird, dass Afrikas Malaise vor allem Ergebnis der Kolonialzeit sei. Die vier Vorschläge überzeugen nicht durchgehend. Beim ersten und radikalsten, dem Ersatz von 'Entwicklungshilfe' durch Anleihen auf dem freien Kapitalmarkt, kommt Dambisa Moyo selbst zu einem eher lakonischen Ergebnis. Zwar ist es richtig, dass dieser Kapitalmarkt Transparenz und Zuverlässigkeit einfordert. Beides hat in Afrika weder mit Hilfe der Europäischen Entwicklungsbank, noch mit jener der Weltbank oder des durchaus bemerkenswerten Panafrican Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) der Republik Südafrika wirklich geklappt. Südafrika wurde selbst Opfer eines völlig korrumpierten ANC unter Jacob Zuma. Der PAIDF II wird inzwischen von Mauritius aus gemanagt.
Ausländische Direktinvestitionen (FDI) werden unter der Überschrift 'The Chinese are Our Friends' abgehandelt. In der Tat ist China inzwischen der größte Direktinvestor auf dem Kontinent, gefolgt von Bergwerks- und Ölkonzernen des globalen Nordwestens, Indiens und Brasiliens. China baute die erste moderne Eisenbahnstrecke des Kontinents, die 1860 Kilometer lange TanZam, bereits in den 1970er-Jahren, weitere folgten in Äthiopien, Kenia und Nigeria. Für viele Privatunternehmen aber gilt: "Doing business in Africa is a nightmare" (Seite 100). Interessant das Ergebnis eines Pew-Reports aus dem Jahr 2007, wonach Afrikaner/innen trotz partieller Kritik China positiver gegenüberstehen als den USA. Gefragt wurden nicht nur die Eliten afrikanischer Länder, denen die politisch bedingungslosen Darlehen der Volksrepublik natürlich lieber sind als die 'Good-Governance'-Forderungen nordwestlicher Geldgeber.
Getreu dem Credo eines der Gründungsväter der modernen Volkswirtschaft, Adam Smith, und seinem kleinen deutschen 'Bruder', Friedrich List, liegt eine der vier Lösungen im Handel - jenem afrikanischer Länder mit dem 'Rest der Welt' wie auch jenem untereinander. Zurecht beginnt Dambisa Moyo dieses Kapitel mit den vor allem nicht-tarifären Handelsschranken des globalen Nordens (einschließlich China und Japan). Diese bestehen weniger aus Zöllen als aus der Subventionierung der dort heimischen Landwirtschaft. Ein knackiges Beispiel dafür: Die EU subventioniert jede EU-Kuh mit täglich 2,50 USD. Die Schwelle zur absoluten Armut liegt bei täglich 1,90 USD je Mensch. Überschüssige Agrarproduktion wird nach Afrika exportiert mit der Folge, dass dort heimischen Bauern die Existenzgrundlage entzogen wird. Das gilt für die berüchtigten europäischen Hühner auf den Märkten Accras ebenso wie für Fertigprodukte amerikanischer und europäischer Nahrungsmittelkonzerne in den Regalen afrikanischer Supermärkte und Kleinläden. Der afrikanischen Wirtschaft entstehen dadurch entgangene Erlöse aus Export und Binnennachfrage von jährlich etwa 500 Milliarden USD - also ein Mehrfaches der jährlichen 'Entwicklungshilfe' aus dem globalen Norden. Afrika sollte jedoch auch vor seiner eigenen Tür kehren. Der durchschnittliche offizielle Zoll für innerafrikanischen Handel mit landwirtschaftlichen Produkten liegt bei 34 Prozent. Zwar hat sich Afrika inzwischen zur 'Zollunion' erklärt, bei der Umsetzung dieses Beschlusses der Afrikanischen Union muss man allerdings schon eine Lupe zur Hand nehmen.
Den vierten fachlichen Beitrag nennt Dambisa Moyo 'Banking the Unbankable'. Diese Überlegungen machen rundum Sinn und setzen sich - wenn auch im Schneckentempo - in vielen Ländern des Kontinents durch. Sie gehen teilweise auf deutsche Vordenker (Schulze-Delitzsch und Raiffeisen) zurück. Mehr sei hier nicht verraten.
Dieses Buch unterscheidet sich schon wegen seiner konsequenten marktliberalen Grundierung deutlich von anderen Publikationen über Afrikas Gegenwart und Zukunft, vor allem aber von Felwine Sarr's viel gelesenem, dennoch unsäglich schlechtem 'Afrotopia' (Sarr ist der bekannteste Ökonom des Kontinents, der aber mit der genannten Publikation ins Esoterische abgleitet). Bei Dambisa Moyo weht dagegen ein frischer Wind - ob Utopie oder Realität, möglich sind alle vorgeschlagenen Maßnahmenbündel. Dagegen stehen in Afrika überkommene politische Strukturen, die aufzubrechen ungeheuer schwer ist (siehe Dauerkampf der sudanesischen Jugend und ihrer Lehrer gegen ein verkommenes und mörderisches Militär-Regime). Ein nicht zu behebendes Defizit ist allerdings, dass bei ökonomischer Betrachtung Afrikas (wie auch Südasiens und Teilen von Lateinamerika) der 'informelle Sektor' weitgehend unbeachtet bleibt, der mehr als 80 Prozent der Beschäftigung ausmacht (darauf wies Gütter in 'Fluchtursachen' hin). Dieses Buch, das es inzwischen auch in deutscher Übersetzung gibt, ist dennoch sehr lesenswert und allen an Entwicklungspolitik Interessierten empfohlen!







