Michela Wrong

Killing with kindness

Dead Aid, by Dambisa Moyo

issue 14 February 2009

When I wrote a regular column on Africa for this magazine’s left-wing rival, I was always intrigued by the contrast in responses to any sceptical article on aid. ‘This reactionary bigot is clearly happy for millions of Africans to starve,’ pretty much summed up the fury of white readers at having their Oxfam direct debits questioned. ‘No, she’s right!’ replied my defenders. ‘These corrupt, thieving governments should be cut off without a penny.’ Those ones always came from Africans.

The assumption that foreign aid is an unalloyed good runs so deep in the guilt- ridden, post-colonial West, people are often shocked to discover that many Africans, far from showing appropriate gratitude or begging for more, regard these contributions with both distrust and suspicion. No wonder this book is causing a stir.

While most critics are content to dismiss aid as largely inconsequential or simply over-sold, Dambisa Moyo — a Zambian economist who spent eight years at Goldman Sachs — goes about six steps further.

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