International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue XII, December 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Theoretical Debate on the Development Aid in Africa
Usman Ugboga Koku, Oduor Isaiah Otieno, Edward Kisiang’ani
Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies, Kenyatta University, Nairobi Kenya
Abstract: Development aid flow to African countries started in 1960s when most African countries attained Independence from their colonial masters. The aim of giving development aid to African countries is to help them overcome development challenges. It was estimated that west developed countries has spent about $600 billion on development aid to African countries. Yet, there is little effect of development aid on socio-economic and political development in African countries. This led to ongoing debate on effectiveness of aid on development. The paper has traced the historical origin of development aid, and the theoretical justification of the need of giving aid to African countries. It also explained the theoretical debate among scholars who are in support of development aid as a mean of promoting economic development in African countries and those with the view that development aid failed to deliver development to African countries, instead it created dependency syndrome. The study reveals that corruption, aid conditionality, aid volatility, debt and unfair trade relations between the developed countries and African countries hindered the effective performance of development aid in African countries. The study also found out that African leaders attempted to address the failures of development aid in the continent, through Lagos action plans and Monrovia declaration of development agenda under the umbrella of organization of Africa Union (Africa Union), but the two documents failed to address the lack of political and economic growth in African countries. Therefore the study recommend that, the pattern of relationship between donor countries and African countries, have to be redesign, and the structural imbalance in the global trading system must be reform, and free trade should be replaced with fair trade. The study also suggests that African governments should reforms their political and economic institutions in order to address the problem of corruption and management of development aid in the continent.
Keywords: Development Aid, Development, African Countries, Economic Growth, Donor.
I. INTRODUCTION
Development aid to Africa gained prominence in 19th Century when developed nations started giving development aid to developing countries. This was the period which most of African countries attained political independence (Egben 2013:2). This resulted to the popular “Big Push” view of development in the 1950s pioneered by Rosenstein Rodan (1943 -1944), and later by Nurkse (1962). According to these theorist the growing gap between developed and developing countries was as a result of inadequate investment across sectors of the economy and infrastructure. Therefore, other argued that developing countries particularly African countries are trapped as the vicious circles of poverty as their development is constrained by low savings and inadequate foreign exchanges. As a result of this, African countries find it difficult to attract foreign investors and to borrow on International markets. Thus, development aid is