The Disappointing Discussion About Aid Effectiveness

The Western paradigm of developmental assistance in Africa can trace its origins back to the colonial era. As such, it is tarnished by the asymmetry of the relationship between the coloniser and the colonised. This chapter revisits the debates about aid in Africa. It explores how tools such as structural adjustment programmes, aid effectiveness discussions, macroeconomic conditionality, and rating agencies’ risk perceptions reinforce an outdated aid logic founded on the principles of charity. This logic has formed the basis for development cooperation between ACP countries and the EU since 1975, as formalised in the Cotonou Agreement (formerly Lomé Convention) and other agreements between the EU and North African countries. The impact of this logic over decades has not been positive for the continent. The global aid industry effectively shackles aid-dependent nations by keeping them perpetually reliant on the generosity of the wealthy. At the same time, focusing on African external economic obligations as a marker of good performance rather than a fundamental transformation of the countries means that the real impact of aid has been limited. The debacle of structural adjustment opened new opportunities to move away from a charity perspective and subsequently allowed for a less prescriptive approach towards Africa. However, this opening proved to be short-lived, an unfortunate lost opportunity.