Mayo claims that aid reduces and undermines government accountability to its citizens. This is due to the fact that, relying on the help of the West, developing countries are not fighting dictatorship and corruption. However, in most cases it turns out to be “glamorous aid”, with media coverage of pop stars and famous actors, the primary purpose of which is positive PR (Moyo, 2010, p. 61). Thus, in most cases aid does not have an impact on civil society as a whole. It is aimed only at certain regions covered by journalists during the provision of aid in order to create a reputation of benefactors among Western media personalities.
According to Maya, aid undermine economic development and result in dependency. This is due to the fact that the financial assistance provided by the West to the countries of Africa is not gratuitous, but leads to the formation of state debt. For example, “by the end of the 1980s, the debt of developing countries amounted to at least a trillion US dollars”, and poor countries made huge payments to the rich (Moyo, 2010, p. 63). The aid has a negative impact on savings, as they are all used to repay the public debt.
Aid also prevented African countries from following the Marshall Plan. Instead of investing money in the restoration of infrastructure, “finances were used with the expectation of further assistance from the West” and were not invested in the long term (Moyo, 2010, p. 52). The impact of aid on the export sector is due to the increased financial influence of the metropolises on the former colonies. For example, “free market agreements were violated”, which put African countries at a disadvantage (Moyo, 2010, p. 50). I support Dambisa Moyo’s point of view and believe that financial assistance from Western countries really negatively affects the economies of African countries.
Reference
Moyo, D. (2010). Dead aid: Why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa. In N. Ferguson (Ed.), The Silent Killer of Growth (pp. 49-68). New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.