Africa Needs Democracy, Not Dollars

[NATO AIR]

from the president of the Ivory Coast in NR....

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/koulibaly200509160901.asp

September 16, 2005, 9:01 a.m.
Democracy, Not Dollars
Africa needs more than just monetary aid.

By President Mamadou Koulibaly

On Wednesday, the World Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) opened at the United Nations. This summit follows the good intentions of the Gleneagles G-8 Summit in July, which, under the leadership of prime minister Tony Blair, stressed the need to increase official development assistance to Africa.

These intentions are noble, but five years have passed since the adoption of the MDG by the U.N. General Assembly in September 2000. It is time to step back and frankly assess the results. We can no longer ignore that aid policies for African states have had only insignificant effects; key research-and-development aid institutes consistently draw our attention to the failure of these measures. How can aid be increasingly provided to African governments without making sure that the rule of law and transparency are promoted as the strategic framework to improve living conditions?

Now seems an appropriate time to make new, more realistic and effective commitments for the future of the MDG. We would do well to question some of the irrelevant assumptions of those calling for an increase in the volume of aid. Numerous World Bank and IMF analysts, among others working at major research centers on international development, question the effectiveness of the policies adopted so far. Research increasingly shows that economic prosperity is primarily generated by private investment when states can stimulate economic freedom.

Reflecting on international development, global prosperity, common security, and a millennium of universal peace must become a matter of primary concern to all of us. Introspection should focus more on methods than on goals per se. No golden solution will fall from the sky. The main challenge we face is to develop the capacity to open up our countries to international actors who can foster prosperity for the poorest amongst us. We also cannot shy away from our responsibilities as Africans.
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