Sun Blogs: For a Few Dollars More
How to Lose Friends in Africa
November 3, 2009 - 3:00amPaul Kagame is one of the West’s favorite African leaders. The current president of Rwanda, he was the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front when it ended the genocide in 1994. He has ruled over the reconciliation of as fractured a country as there ever has been, prevented the nation from falling into a prolonged civil war that once appeared inevitable, and has enjoyed robust economic growth for the last decade and a half.
Under his stewardship, Rwanda has been called Africa’s “biggest success story” by writer Fareed Zakaria, and his prudent economic and social policies have given him a lot of sway amongst African leaders. So, it must have been with some displeasure that Western leaders took his comments last month praising the role of China in Rwanda’s development, while simultaneously criticizing the aid of the West.
Now, you could say Kagame has a lot of reasons not to like the West, and that’d be true. He watched in 1994 as Western powers categorically ignored the massacres occurring in his country. But his most recent set of accusations was not about what the West didn’t do, but rather, what it has been doing. That is, he is sick of his country just receiving aid from Western countries – he’d rather trade with them. Among other grievances, he cited that Western powers have been polluting Africa, and depriving African nations of the same trade rights that they give each other. He feels this has been preventing African businesses from building themselves up, and ultimately, from reducing the country’s poverty.
China, to the contrary, has been doing exactly what Kagame desires. They’ve been investing in businesses and infrastructure in Rwanda by providing capital for companies and building roads. In essence, if this investment is successful, it allows Rwanda to help itself, as these are policies that enable trade between Rwanda and other nations (trade is very difficult if, for example, you don’t have adequate roads). To Kagame, this is what is necessary for his country, and others in Africa, to truly develop.
Unsurprisingly, this is not pure altruism on China’s part, as it gets something out of this, too, beyond the return on a successful investment – it gets political capital. China is enjoying rising popularity in Africa, which translates into supportive votes in international bodies when China’s sketchy (to say the least) human rights record comes under attack. In addition, China is forging economic ties with a number of countries that are likely to be the world’s emerging economies in ten or twenty years. Imagine investing in India two decades ago, and you can see the potential benefits for a country that is already experiencing some of the fastest economic growth in the world. If its investments are successful, China has happened upon a mutually beneficial development program – akin to the holy grail of helping poor countries.
Kagame’s comments, and China’s strategies in helping Africa, touch on one of the largest debates in development theory: that of trade versus aid. There is not a consensus on the correct answer, and the various arguments are far too complex and multifaceted to get into here. Likely, poor countries need some of both.
But, there is an aspect to this debate that returns to being a matter of respect. Much of development aid focuses on telling the poor countries what to do. And it is true that sometimes these countries honestly do not know what is best for themselves, and providing aid restricted for specific causes is necessary (though this is less common than most officials at the IMF and World Bank would like to believe). But when the very countries that we are trying to help are asking us to stop helping them, and instead treat them as equals, and when the leaders of those countries are respected all over the world, and when that nation is seen as the biggest success on the continent, maybe it is a sign we should rethink our decision. Maybe it is a sign that some poor countries deserve our respect in addition to our money.
Dear Luke, This is an
Dear Luke,
This is an objectif article,
we, in africa we have never received your aid, we receive brain washing money. because of your money we lose our way of thinking, our knowlwge, now all products, medecine in use in africa are from Europe, American and now Asia.
All of you in side yr country, they're people who need your aid, why don't you help them instead of come to help us.
They have never been an aid for african They have been a system of creating a market for your products, a set up of system which will never allow african to access the scientific knownlges(catholic Mission by Leopord I King of Belgian). We have been cobay to the medecine of all desease, it is in african where you test all medicine (The river).
We no longer need such kind of money, we need people who really want to do business in Africa(win win situation(WWS)). This is what some chinese company do here of course you can find some abuse.There is chance of doing business in Rwanda and in EAC this is what KAGAME say.
We don't need your love or your compension and you too, you don't need it from us. We are all citezen of this World let's work together in WWS.
Pierre
Re:
Hi Pierre,
Thank you for your comment.
I understand your frustration with aid. Much of it has been ineffective, and some of it has even been harmful. But you should remember that most people providing aid are not looking to brainwash, nor are they trying to find a place to test products or medicine. Many people in the western world really do want to help, but simply don’t know how.
That is why it is important to listen to people who are in countries receiving aid: so the people who want to help know what to do. Kagame’s comments will hopefully help Western countries see that it is important to trade and do business in EAC, just as the Chinese are doing.
The best scenario is, as you say, a win-win situation. But it’s hard to figure out how exactly a win-win situation can be achieved. As an African yourself, how do you think we can find a WWS?
How To Lose Friends in Africa?
I appreciate your objectivity Mr Pryor. The hard line approach that President Kagame has taken despite the "gasps" and "whispers" of shock among his peers tells exactly why he was able to stop the genocide of 1994. Unless you have been living on another planet for the past 4 decades or so, when we look at the amount of aid money that has been going to Africa it is beyond comprehension when one turns to look at the "results" that money has produced.
Someone has to tell the emperor that he is naked! - We cannot continue this way. Friend of the west he is because he says it like it is. Would you not prefer a "friend" who tells you the truth than one who just plays along?
Africans are hard workers - there thousands upon thousands who work day and night with no pay hoping to get at least a plate of food for lunch or dinner in exchange for their work...! This is not sustainable in any part of the world. The Chinese know it because they are on the ground witnessing the challenges and absorbing the unique circumstances most Africans deal with. That's the only difference. At the end of the day, most human beings want the same things - shelter, water , food and an education for their children. They are not thinking about China's position according to Human Rights Watch opinion. Trust me.
After all the money he's
After all the money he's received from the UK and the US, I have to say he's just a hypocrite!!
Re:
You make a lot of good points, Nshuti – chief among them the fact that there are huge discrepancies between the amount of aid given and the results produced. Aid has been quite obviously relatively ineffective in its current form, and it’s time for us Western countries to start looking for new strategies to help out our brethren in places such as Africa.
The best place to go to look for new strategies is to the people you are trying to help. This is what the Chinese have done, and Kagame’s approval should be indicative enough that, at least in Rwanda, Western countries should start phasing out aid, and starting bringing in trade. This goes hand in hand with our countries treating each other as equals – necessary to any healthy relationship. But Western countries are reluctant to do so.
So, my point is not that Kagame would lose the West’s friendship, but that the West could lose his. If the West continues upon its current path of thinking it can tell people how to live, we will no longer have friends in the very countries we are trying to help. In the West, we view Kagame as one of our friends in Africa, but if our governments and aid agencies refuse to treat him as an equal, he might not count us as a friend of his for much longer.
As for whether those trying to provide for their families care about China’s international reputation: they don’t, I agree – they have much more important things to worry about. But China cares about its reputation, and as long as the government of African countries is willing to support China, just as China supports them, it’s a mutually beneficial situation for all.