| The only thing UK aid to Africa supports is British politicians’ sense of moral worth.The announcement from the UK Department for
International Development (DfID) that it is to give £300million in aid
to Nigeria has been met with ridicule. Why? Because it was also revealed
that Nigeria is spending hundreds of millions of pounds on a space
programme. The critics scoff: does a nation which can fund a space
programme really need aid from the UK? |
Yet the suggestion that the UK should cut its aid budget because
Nigeria - a country producing nearly a billion barrels of oil a year -
doesn’t seem to need it, misses the point. And that’s because British
aid, in this case to Nigeria, has never really had anything to do with
the needs of the country to which it is sent.
For a start, overseas aid is often spent on projects that have little positive effect on recipient countries’ development. Last year, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact said that massive aid spending on education in Nigeria had had no discernible impact on the standard of schooling. Other aid money is spent on schemes teaching African men that it’s not alright to beat their wives, or teaching African women not to have so many children. And any cash left over is spent on small-scale eco-projects which DfID believes constitute economic development. None of which are particularly helpful.
For a start, overseas aid is often spent on projects that have little positive effect on recipient countries’ development. Last year, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact said that massive aid spending on education in Nigeria had had no discernible impact on the standard of schooling. Other aid money is spent on schemes teaching African men that it’s not alright to beat their wives, or teaching African women not to have so many children. And any cash left over is spent on small-scale eco-projects which DfID believes constitute economic development. None of which are particularly helpful.
So, given the ineffectiveness of aid, why is
the British state so keen to dish it out? The quick answer is that it
allows politicians to portray themselves as a caring bunch who help
those who can’t help themselves. Africans appear here as a stage army of
the helpless and ignorant, subject to the exploitation of corrupt
politicians and multinational corporations. And so, following this old
colonial tale, it falls upon enlightened Westerners to create an
environment where Africans can live out the simple lives for which they
were born.
A Nigerian space programme does not fit this narrative; it shatters the illusion of helpless Africans in need of helpful Westerners. And it is this that has upset advocates of overseas aid. The idea of the space-age Nigerian is a far cry from the image of the helpless African, destined for poverty. This is also what is so cheering about the story. The space programme symbolises Nigeria’s ambition to be an equal of the West, not one of its chosen objects of pity.
by Rossa Minogue at spiked.
A Nigerian space programme does not fit this narrative; it shatters the illusion of helpless Africans in need of helpful Westerners. And it is this that has upset advocates of overseas aid. The idea of the space-age Nigerian is a far cry from the image of the helpless African, destined for poverty. This is also what is so cheering about the story. The space programme symbolises Nigeria’s ambition to be an equal of the West, not one of its chosen objects of pity.
by Rossa Minogue at spiked.
The same argument was put about aid to India and their space programme. A country that could put a person into space but couldn't provide a 24hr electricity supply.
ReplyDeleteThere is, of course, a case that space programmes are not practical projects and are as much for PR purposes as World Cups and Olympic games investments were.
Any practical needs for satellites can be rented from existing ones without the need to pay for all the infrastructure and extras.
I think we should be very critical of the Nigerian government's decision to divert funds to outer space.
...or could it be that these "AID" monies are channeled into programs that are deliberately used to fund special interests of it's proponents NOT primarily the interests of the said "RECIPIENTS(i.e. poor little ol' space chasing Nigeria)". Is it a possibility.
ReplyDeleteThe United states do something similar when they want to bost the income of a particular company, say GE for instance; AID for electric power is awarded to some little ol country and GE somehow gets the contracts and supplies the expertise.
AID is a (not so complicated) game of money pushing and PR.
What we actually need to start being is a giving country and not a receiving country
ReplyDelete