Rob Macaire

UK and Kenya

Looking back at some of the earlier strings in this blog, I see that there are some comments and questions I haven't responded to, so in the interests of two-way dialogue, here are some thoughts.

A couple of people including Benjamin commented on the importance of developed countries sustaining their pledges to the developing world during the economic down-turn.  Hadassah was sceptical that would be the case.  And Mucemi thought that decades of cash inflows from the West had not substantially changed the lot of Africans.  Various other people pointed out that while corruption continues to reign, outside assistance won't have much effect.   The first point is one that I feel I can answer with some confidence, at least as regards the UK.   The recommitment to development pledges at the G20 summit in London were important, and in the case of the UK, our development spending is still programmed to increase, in real terms as well as in proportion to our GDP.  Gordon Brown has been very firm in committing to this, and pushing other countries to do the same.  Perhaps more importantly, the increase in IMF and World Bank funding coming out of the G20 meeting will be important to countries like Kenya. 

The second point is more complicated.  I'd argue that since modern development cooperation has clear targets (the Millennium Development Goals) and is no longer "tied" to bring advantage to the donor country, it does contribute massively to lifting people out of poverty, and creating more equality and opportunity in societies around the world.  I don't agree with those economists who say that Africa would be better off in the long run if all development inflows were stopped right away - although we all know that more equitable trade would help the continent even more.  But on the corruption point, it's certainly true that it impacts on development.   In fact, if you look at a country like Kenya, judging by its population and poverty indicators, our assistance should theoretically be roughly double what it is currently.  The reason why it isn't is the difficulty of delivering development programmes given the governance and corruption issues.   Other partners are probably in the same situation.  And I am sure (as another contributor commented on an earlier blog) that investors are scared off by this factor.  So ordinary Kenyan citizens and taxpayers are hurt in more ways than one by the scourge of corruption.

Posted at 16:41 07 May 2009 by Rob Macaire  |  Comments[2]