Aid in Africa too much donor conditions

African governments frustrated with aid conditions by donors states ADB workshop in Kigali

BY GEORGE KAGAME

African development experts have expressed their disappointment with the kind of conditions that donor nations ask from African countries as conditions for giving aid.

The call was made in a joint statement after a two day workshop held last week in Kigali’s Serena Hotel, the workshop brought together 200 delegates from over 40 African states, the experts were reviewing the progress of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness on Wednesday.

In regard to aid effectiveness in Africa, the experts stated that there’s frustration among African countries on the terms that donors tie to their aid. It reads in part; “A certain amount of frustration isn’t all bad,” however, the statement continued that this frustration is normal and was a result of diverse experiences between donor givers and receivers, the statement adds. “Our different approaches stem from different mandates, different legal frameworks, different histories, and different roles.”


The ‘development missionaries’ also agreed with Finance Minster James Musoni, who expressed his desire to have donor countries aligning their aid to the development programmes of donor receiving countries.

Musoni who was addressing Rwanda’s donors in Gisenyi recently said; “because many of them (donors) could do participate in several projects, we are looking at which sector each donor can handle, that way we can benefit from comparative advantage depending on which sector they fund.”


The Kigali meeting also further stated that aid was not effective as was agreed in the now famous 2005 Paris Declaration, they called upon donors to make substantial changes to improve the effectiveness of aid and ensure that it achieves a greater impact on development.

The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness committed donors and partner countries to substantial changes to improve the effectiveness of aid to ensure that it achieves a greater impact on development.

The workshop was hosted by the African Development Bank and the governments of Rwanda and Ghana; it also was designed to ensure consultation and to prepare an African position on the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, a global event to be held in Accra Ghana from 2 - 4 September. The Forum will discuss global progress on the Paris Declaration.