Monday - August 08, 2005

More Money For Africa?

Everyone says we should throw more money at Africa. U2’s Bono is running around the world begging for money, LiveAid gives concerts and the UN wrings its hands over the starving and dying. In my opinion, it is a ”money pit”. For those of you who never saw the movie (of the same name) or bought a house that was a “fixer-upper”, it is a way of throwing away good money after bad. Africa is no exception to this rule. In fact, as long as we throw money at the continent it will only prolong the agony. Why can’t we pass some legislation and call it the “No African Left Behind Act” .. where they only get money if they show reasonable signs of progress in solving their problems?

Take a look at the two quotes below. They both concern the West African country of Mali. The first comes from the US Department Of State and the second is from a news story today from AP ....

Mali

Area: 1,240,278 sq. km. (474,764 sq. mi.); about the size of Texas and California combined.

Population (2002 est.): 10.5 million.

US Foreign Aid: In 2003, U.S. assistance reached $44.2 million: This included $40.7 million in sector support made available through U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs; a Peace Corps program budget of $2.8 million for 190 volunteers serving in Mali; Self-Help and the Democracy Funds of $153,000; and State Department Public Diplomacy Funds of $300,000 for educational opportunities and local projects. Military assistance includes $100,000 for the International Military Education Training (IMET) program, and $200,000 for the Regional Defense Counter Terrorism Fellowship (RDCTF) program. The Department of State dedicated $1.05 million to train militaries of the Pan Sahel countries, including Mali.

MARSI, Mali (AP)—While the world’s attention has been fixed on famished Niger, Sidi Mohammed’s big, tearful eyes and cries of hunger reveal another food crisis unfolding next door. The year-old baby, mewling as his mother tries to feed him a cup of vitamin-rich gruel provided by aid workers, is one of an estimated 1.5 million of Mali’s 11 million people are said to be facing hunger, among them an estimated 144,000 children already suffering malnourishment.

Aid workers say they fear a replay of what happened in neighboring Niger, where the world ignored repeated warnings and only rushed in aid in recent weeks when images of starving children hit TV screens. The U.N. World Food Program said an appeal for $7.5 million was facing a shortfall of 85 percent, which it called “devastating. A similar appeal for Niger got 70 percent of the $16 million sought, mostly from Australia, Germany and the United States. But that was at least seven months after the first calls for help went out for the entire region.

Across the chronically dry and dusty West African region on the edge of the Sahara, malnutrition is a yearly blight. Poor rains and locusts worsened the situation last year, and now Sidi and his three siblings are dangerously underfed and dependent on food aid. Burkina Faso and Mauritania also are affected. “We had nothing to eat except the milk of our three sheep. I was very afraid. What could I do for my children?” says Sidi’s mother, 25-year-old Ahmetan Ahmedu.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/08/2005 at 02:15 PM   
Filed Under: • Africa •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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