Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York ; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009.
Description
In "Dead Aid," Dambisa Moyo describes the state of postwar development policy in Africa that has channeled billions of dollars in aid but failed to reduce poverty and increase growth. He offers a new, more hopeful vision of how to address the desperate poverty that plagues millions.
Media reviews
Interview, not so much about the content of the book:
Dambisa Moyo is having her moment. … Moyo believes this dependency relationship is perpetuated by Western governments and glorified by the celebrities who have made Africa their cause du jour. … The question—for Moyo and for Bono, for
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governments and for celebrities—is not really about whether to help. It's how to help better. Show Less
The danger is that this book will get more attention than it deserves. It has become fashionable to attack aid to Africa; an overdose of celebrity lobbying and compassion fatigue have prompted harsh critiques of what exactly aid has achieved in the past 50 years.
I doubt that many of Africa's problems can be attributed to aid. It is, in my view, something of a sideshow.
…
I think that Moyo's message is over-optimistic. She implies that, were aid cut, African governments would respond by turning to other sources of finance that would make them more
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accountable. I think this exaggerates the opportunity for alternative finance and underestimates the difficulties African societies face.
…
African societies face problems deeper than their dependence on aid. Divided by ethnic loyalties, they are too large to be nations. Yet with only tiny economies, they lack the scale to be effective states. As a result the vital public goods of security and accountability cannot adequately be provided. In their absence the valuable natural assets that many countries possess become liabilities instead of opportunities for prosperity. Show Less
Critics of Dambisa Moyo's Proposal Paul Collier, professor of economics at Oxford, and one of Moyo's teachers, believes that her message is overly optimistic. He suggests that donors must insist on transparent budgeting and accountability on the receiving side. African societies don't need
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predominantly money but help with peacekeeping,security guarantees, trade privileges and promoting good governance. Other critics fear that Moyo's harsh judgment of aid will encourage Western governments to cut back on their aid promises, while there are no other solutions in place. Whether one agrees with her argument or not, Dambisa Moyo offers an accessible summary of anti-aid arguments based on statistics and anecdotal evidence bolstered with an extensive bibliography. She deeply wishes for a better outcome on both sides: for those desperate to survive on less than a US$1 a-day in sub-Saharan Africa and those who want to help. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member sien
Dead Aid (2009) by Dambiso Moyo is a thought provoking book that has caused a fair degree of controversy. In the book Dr Moyo says that aid to Africa has not only failed, but that it has actually made Africa worse off. The first claim is very strongly demonstrated, the second is less substantially
Moyo has a very impressive CV. She was born in Zambia and grew up their. Her parents were some of the first graduates of the University of Lukasa. They went overseas to further their education but returned to Zambia. Moyo was educated at Harvard and has a PhD from Oxford. She then worked at Goldman Sachs and then the World Bank. She is ideally placed to have extremely well informed views on Africa and she is also able to speak courageously against the pop stars and others who currently dominate the debate on Africa but whose policies have had such a poor record.
The book is split into two parts, the first is about the rise of aid and its effects and the second is Moyo’s view of what should be done and what is changing in Africa. The first part starts by pointing out that Africa is the great failure in the modern world. While the rest of the world is clearly on the way to greatly increased wealth and well being Africa has become worse off in both absolute and relative terms over the past 30-40 years. Moyo goes on to describe the history of post WWII aid. Moyo outlines how aid started being aid to Europe that was short term and aimed at getting money in to restart the war shattered European economies. This worked. Then in the 1960s aid became directed toward the developing world in order to increase development and to secure influence in the post colonial Cold War world. Instead of using aid as a short term bridge to repair institutions and countries it was re-badged as a way to start development. Here it has failed. Dismally. Moyo goes on to suggest that aid actually hindered growth. Moyo suggests that this was the case because those in government were so corrupt that government was seen as the way to make money and that as that money came mostly from aid rather than tax the governments lost interest in trying to make local industry better. Moyo also points out that Africa’s exports of agricultural goods were not allowed into the developed world because of the developed world’s tariffs.
In Part II Moyo puts forward her prescription of what can be done and what is happening and what will happen. She posits a hypothetical country called Dongo and puts forward how it is now and what can be done. She suggests that governments in Africa should go to the bond market rather than aid donors. She suggests that this will force them to become more transparent and to actually try to get a return on the money they can get. She also describes what China is doing in Africa as beneficial. As Moyo sees it China is investing in Africa like a business. China wants the raw materials and produce that Africa is or can produce. Instead of giving aid without wanting anything from it the Chinese are building roads and other infrastructure in Africa to help themselves. Moyo also wants Africa to trade more with itself, she says that Africa has huge internal barriers to trade, with up to 30% tariffs between countries that should be removed to kick start Africa. She writes about how micro credit is taking off in Africa and improving the situation. She is also very positive about remittances that are helping Africa develop. She mentions Hernando De Soto also with his point about how good title for land and easy business registration is vital for unlocking the capital that Africa already has that is locked up because of a lack of trust and institutions.
Moyo is really quite positive about the situation. She sees micro credit and better regulation starting to appear in Africa and aid declining which is actually improving the situation. It is very interesting to see such a positive take on China’s African involvement as opposed to the usual negative Western view of the situation.
The book is thoughtful, well written and impressively short. Indeed it is one of the few books that I’ve read in years that could actually have been longer. There are some things such as the treatment of AIDs, whether direct short term food aid should be maintained, whether groups like MSF should continue to work and if there is going to be aid how it could be better used that are either not discussed or about which little is written. But the book is a short, sharp almost pamphlet like book that is very well worth reading.
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argued, but is put forth sufficiently well that the argument cannot be written off. The book goes one step further than The Trouble with Africa in advocating radical change to policy toward Africa.Moyo has a very impressive CV. She was born in Zambia and grew up their. Her parents were some of the first graduates of the University of Lukasa. They went overseas to further their education but returned to Zambia. Moyo was educated at Harvard and has a PhD from Oxford. She then worked at Goldman Sachs and then the World Bank. She is ideally placed to have extremely well informed views on Africa and she is also able to speak courageously against the pop stars and others who currently dominate the debate on Africa but whose policies have had such a poor record.
The book is split into two parts, the first is about the rise of aid and its effects and the second is Moyo’s view of what should be done and what is changing in Africa. The first part starts by pointing out that Africa is the great failure in the modern world. While the rest of the world is clearly on the way to greatly increased wealth and well being Africa has become worse off in both absolute and relative terms over the past 30-40 years. Moyo goes on to describe the history of post WWII aid. Moyo outlines how aid started being aid to Europe that was short term and aimed at getting money in to restart the war shattered European economies. This worked. Then in the 1960s aid became directed toward the developing world in order to increase development and to secure influence in the post colonial Cold War world. Instead of using aid as a short term bridge to repair institutions and countries it was re-badged as a way to start development. Here it has failed. Dismally. Moyo goes on to suggest that aid actually hindered growth. Moyo suggests that this was the case because those in government were so corrupt that government was seen as the way to make money and that as that money came mostly from aid rather than tax the governments lost interest in trying to make local industry better. Moyo also points out that Africa’s exports of agricultural goods were not allowed into the developed world because of the developed world’s tariffs.
In Part II Moyo puts forward her prescription of what can be done and what is happening and what will happen. She posits a hypothetical country called Dongo and puts forward how it is now and what can be done. She suggests that governments in Africa should go to the bond market rather than aid donors. She suggests that this will force them to become more transparent and to actually try to get a return on the money they can get. She also describes what China is doing in Africa as beneficial. As Moyo sees it China is investing in Africa like a business. China wants the raw materials and produce that Africa is or can produce. Instead of giving aid without wanting anything from it the Chinese are building roads and other infrastructure in Africa to help themselves. Moyo also wants Africa to trade more with itself, she says that Africa has huge internal barriers to trade, with up to 30% tariffs between countries that should be removed to kick start Africa. She writes about how micro credit is taking off in Africa and improving the situation. She is also very positive about remittances that are helping Africa develop. She mentions Hernando De Soto also with his point about how good title for land and easy business registration is vital for unlocking the capital that Africa already has that is locked up because of a lack of trust and institutions.
Moyo is really quite positive about the situation. She sees micro credit and better regulation starting to appear in Africa and aid declining which is actually improving the situation. It is very interesting to see such a positive take on China’s African involvement as opposed to the usual negative Western view of the situation.
The book is thoughtful, well written and impressively short. Indeed it is one of the few books that I’ve read in years that could actually have been longer. There are some things such as the treatment of AIDs, whether direct short term food aid should be maintained, whether groups like MSF should continue to work and if there is going to be aid how it could be better used that are either not discussed or about which little is written. But the book is a short, sharp almost pamphlet like book that is very well worth reading.
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LibraryThing member zebedeejr
Dambisa Moyo has provided those in the aid community and African economists & scholars a provocative plan for bringing sub-Saharan Africa's economy and quality of life up to the standards of the rest of the world, or at least alongside other developing parts of the world. In a time when every
As correctly pointed out, however, nearly 500,000 Western development workers and economists rely upon the government-to-government aid "industry" to justify their existence (a point also noted in Wrong's "Our Turn to Eat"), so overcoming the poverty filled images and stories this group brings before a well-intentioned Western public will be difficult. Additionally, the Dead Aid approach to development would necessitate other (sometimes bigger) financial concessions from countries in Europe and from the United States, such as dropping subsidies on agriculture. Moyo provides many facets to her plan for development, but courage would be needed by both Western governments as well as Africans to actually see any of her plan come to fruition.
The unique viewpoint provided in her work yields exponentially more rewards than it requires in effort to follow her argument in this short work. Publishing this work is dangerous for Moyo. Individuals who have no experience in the economic or development field or who are unfamiliar with post-colonial African history may find the second half of her work tedious or overly detailed, yet may complete the first half of the work and grasp on to her arguments as evidence for discontinuing aid--the evidence for Dead Aid must be balanced with that detailed solution provided in the last half of the book. On the other hand, many Africans who rely upon aid for their power may discount her work as influenced by her neo-colonial education and work experience. Nevertheless, this work must not be ignored, for the cycles of ineffective (yet seemingly endless) aid only seem to continue, and Africa deserves to be seen not as a hopeless charity case, but as a region with great potential and even greater people.
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industrialized nation has internal critics who worry about continuing systematic bilateral or multilateral aid to Africa while its own economy is struggling, Dead Aid will find many who support the premises of its argument--aid hasn't worked, and in fact has hurt the governments of sub-Saharan Africa who have relied to heavily on it.As correctly pointed out, however, nearly 500,000 Western development workers and economists rely upon the government-to-government aid "industry" to justify their existence (a point also noted in Wrong's "Our Turn to Eat"), so overcoming the poverty filled images and stories this group brings before a well-intentioned Western public will be difficult. Additionally, the Dead Aid approach to development would necessitate other (sometimes bigger) financial concessions from countries in Europe and from the United States, such as dropping subsidies on agriculture. Moyo provides many facets to her plan for development, but courage would be needed by both Western governments as well as Africans to actually see any of her plan come to fruition.
The unique viewpoint provided in her work yields exponentially more rewards than it requires in effort to follow her argument in this short work. Publishing this work is dangerous for Moyo. Individuals who have no experience in the economic or development field or who are unfamiliar with post-colonial African history may find the second half of her work tedious or overly detailed, yet may complete the first half of the work and grasp on to her arguments as evidence for discontinuing aid--the evidence for Dead Aid must be balanced with that detailed solution provided in the last half of the book. On the other hand, many Africans who rely upon aid for their power may discount her work as influenced by her neo-colonial education and work experience. Nevertheless, this work must not be ignored, for the cycles of ineffective (yet seemingly endless) aid only seem to continue, and Africa deserves to be seen not as a hopeless charity case, but as a region with great potential and even greater people.
Show Less
LibraryThing member AlCracka
I recently found myself describing this book as "the literary equivalent of tasing Bono." More or less apt, although actually tasing Bono would be more fun.
Anyway: okay, I'm more or less convinced. Moyo makes a convincing case that aid is not helping in Africa. It fosters corruption, with billions
I wish she'd included a few case studies about specific countries in Africa, maybe some that have failed and some that have succeeded (at least a little)using different methods. Instead she refers repeatedly to a fictional country; why not be real? The book's only 150 pages long, it's not like she didn't have room.
But still: overall, she's made her case well.
Will it change anything? I doubt it. There's a lot of political work to make a change as radical as turning aid off, and there's Bono on the other side. China is way ahead of us here, and I think the most likely story is that Africa ends up pulling itself up with their help more than ours, with the result that Africa ends up more Chinese than Western at the end of the process. Which is...fine? I guess?
Anyway: okay, I'm more or less convinced. Moyo makes a convincing case that aid is not helping in Africa. It fosters corruption, with billions
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of unsupervised dollars up for grabs, and it destroys local economies, keeping Africa in a state of helplessness. Moyo loses me a bit on the solutions end; when she talks about the international bond market, I...well, I don't really know what that means and she doesn't explain it well enough. (Your results may vary if you're not as dumb as me.) The general idea is that instead of waiting for handouts, Africa should join the global economy; Moyo points out that plenty of developing countries, including a few in Africa, have done that with much better results than relying on aid.I wish she'd included a few case studies about specific countries in Africa, maybe some that have failed and some that have succeeded (at least a little)using different methods. Instead she refers repeatedly to a fictional country; why not be real? The book's only 150 pages long, it's not like she didn't have room.
But still: overall, she's made her case well.
Will it change anything? I doubt it. There's a lot of political work to make a change as radical as turning aid off, and there's Bono on the other side. China is way ahead of us here, and I think the most likely story is that Africa ends up pulling itself up with their help more than ours, with the result that Africa ends up more Chinese than Western at the end of the process. Which is...fine? I guess?
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LibraryThing member ubaidd
Dead Aid is a 150 page book with a 24 page bibliography - so it reads more like a long white paper than a book. Dambisa Moyo has an impressive resume, much alluded to in both the book jacket and the foreword by Niall Ferguson. The author has worked for the World Bank and Goldman Sachs and she has a
The book itself makes its case almost clinically, backed up by statistics and research papers from an entire spectrum of economists. Dead Aid is divided in two sections, The World of Aid, which examines the 'aid-economy', the players and the harmful affects on African countries' dependence on western aid. The second section, A World Without Aid proposes several venues open to the developing countries in Africa to raise money and be independent - the most important being trade and raising capital from the markets. Ms. Moyo manages to connect a lot of different African ailments to aid, from corruption to dictatorship and she makes a convincing case. Her solutions make sense as well - at least to a strong believer in free trade like myself. The hopelessness of it all is that it is almost impossible to imagine the West will roll back its Aid of Africa model that has failed so consistently and for so long.
The book's main weakness is that it makes for almost dreary reading. Ms. Moyo may be a brainy economist, she is not a writer. The book suffers from a dearth of wit and style. The author does try to indulge in a hypothetical by creating the composite African country of Dongo and examinig how the country may funciton if her suggestions were realized. But in the end her vision reads less like a fully realized painting and more like a stick figure drawing. I recommend reading the book, only because it serves as a starting point for examining the issue of tackling the many problems of the African continent.
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PhD from Oxford University. Impressive no doubt. Even more impressive is the fact that she was born and raised in Zambia so her profile fits neatly into the "Solutions to Africa's problems by Africans" paradigm.The book itself makes its case almost clinically, backed up by statistics and research papers from an entire spectrum of economists. Dead Aid is divided in two sections, The World of Aid, which examines the 'aid-economy', the players and the harmful affects on African countries' dependence on western aid. The second section, A World Without Aid proposes several venues open to the developing countries in Africa to raise money and be independent - the most important being trade and raising capital from the markets. Ms. Moyo manages to connect a lot of different African ailments to aid, from corruption to dictatorship and she makes a convincing case. Her solutions make sense as well - at least to a strong believer in free trade like myself. The hopelessness of it all is that it is almost impossible to imagine the West will roll back its Aid of Africa model that has failed so consistently and for so long.
The book's main weakness is that it makes for almost dreary reading. Ms. Moyo may be a brainy economist, she is not a writer. The book suffers from a dearth of wit and style. The author does try to indulge in a hypothetical by creating the composite African country of Dongo and examinig how the country may funciton if her suggestions were realized. But in the end her vision reads less like a fully realized painting and more like a stick figure drawing. I recommend reading the book, only because it serves as a starting point for examining the issue of tackling the many problems of the African continent.
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LibraryThing member LynnB
In this book, Dambisa Moyo argues that foreign aid is hurting Africa far more than helping. She links aid dependency with corruption, undermining of demand for local products and general lack of interest in the needs of local citizens as governments are not reliant on taxation. She also points out
The solutions Moyo prescribes all require a greater reliance on markets -- financial and trade. She says the discipline of markets will promote development in a way aid cannot. These kinds of solutions have been advanced by many others; the difference here is Mayo's perspective as an African citizen.
The book is thoughtful, but not written in a particularly engaging style. The analysis is sound and the solutions make sense, although the transition from aid to markets is given only a superficial treatment. Market forces will take time to work and people need support now.
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the existence of an "aid industry" which generate employment in developed countries. I see a strong parallel with these arguments and those made regarding First Nations in Canada.The solutions Moyo prescribes all require a greater reliance on markets -- financial and trade. She says the discipline of markets will promote development in a way aid cannot. These kinds of solutions have been advanced by many others; the difference here is Mayo's perspective as an African citizen.
The book is thoughtful, but not written in a particularly engaging style. The analysis is sound and the solutions make sense, although the transition from aid to markets is given only a superficial treatment. Market forces will take time to work and people need support now.
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LibraryThing member reluctantm
This book may have good ideas but the exposition is so clumsy as to weaken the arguments. Coupled with frequent confusion regarding correlation and causation (the author really should take a refresher on basic statistics) in the first four chapters, the points put forward really just aren't
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convincing. As a previous reviewer stated, this felt like a paper that Moyo tried to stretch into a book. It doesn't work. It may be worth following some of Dead Aid's suggestions, but this book does not make the case for them adequately. Show Less
LibraryThing member ToonC
she gives a concise critique of global aid, with interesting examples. It's very easy to read.
Examples and cases are analysed in a scientific and thorough way.
The statement is challenging and brought with good faith and backed up with good work. If not make you see things completely differently
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like it claims, it can add a perspective to many cases.-
It is not realistic to end development aid in short term because it is a very huge and complex reality. This main message is thoroughly repeated and too simple.
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The book was expensive: 23euro = 30 dollars for a small/medium book.
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As a phd in economy the writer knows how to market stuff, even books.. : a simple style, an enthousiast and clear message, a controversial topic, etc
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LibraryThing member Skybalon
Hard to argue with anything about this book. Author clearly has domain knowledge and the solutions make sense. In fact it could have even been a smaller book without losing anything important. Still well worth the read.
Awards
Bristol Festival of Ideas Book Prize (Nominee — 2010)
Language
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
xx, 188 p.; 21.7 cm
ISBN
9780374139568