Ending Aid Dependence (review)

In many ways Tandon's book is an enigma, for depending upon its intended readership it can be viewed either as an insightful treatise or simply as a repetition of many widely understood claims about African (or Third World) development, couched in moral-sounding rhetoric.

In a positive sense, this is a passionate and articulate voice from Africa that counters the development agenda dominated by international financial agencies. As such, it would be an ideal text for undergraduates from the rich countries of the North, since it tells of the devastation caused by the policies and programs of the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and OECD. Then it points to a seven-point strategy by which the South could extricate itself from perpetual aid dependence. Along the way, it disaggregates the effects of various types of aid, employing the color spectrum to denote categories of impact, and it illustrates with concrete examples the effects of these types of aid on specific countries in the Third World (especially in Zimbabwe) and the broader effect of structural adjustment programs elsewhere. In the author's words (11), "There is an urgent need to define development from the developing countries' rather than donor point of view"—that is, to end the domination of neoliberal policies and institutions and to approach these issues from the perspective of the national project of poor countries, including their goals of self-determination and the alleviation of poverty.

However, on the downside, the central theme of the book—on the negative effects of aid—has become a familiar argument of recent academic publications and thus is far from novel. In addition, the work seems confused as to what constitutes aid; in Ending Aid Dependence, it seems to encompass all of the influences that the rich impose upon Africa: not just Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), but also the effects of trade, global corporations, and the international financial institutions. This reader anticipated that the "trade, not aid" thesis would be enunciated as fundamental; however, this part of an exit strategy was seemingly ignored. Also, the seven-step strategy presented appears quite naïve; it ignores the fact that there are few representative democracies in Africa; that some citizens (often in positions of national power and influence) gain from aid dependence, often at the expense of those in greatest need; and that the global context of international agencies, rich governments, and powerful corporations cannot simply be ignored!

The heart of the author's treatise consists of explicit steps he proposes for ending aid dependence. According to Tandon, placing the "national project" at the center of the analysis and putting the citizens of Africa in charge of their own development are crucial. The overall strategy is presented in terms of seven steps: (1) adjusting the mindset of both donors and recipients; (2) budgeting for the poor and not for the donors; (3) establishing the goals of employment and decent wages as priorities; (4) creating a domestic market and local ownership of domestic resources; (5) filling in the resource gap; (6) creating solid institutions for investing national savings; and (7) limiting aid to that which enhances national democratic priorities.

Such a seven-step strategy is presented as a feasible plan that will lead to a reevaluation of the links between rich and poor and end aid dependence. Each step is explained fully and the constraints are identified—for example, in step 1 the psychology of aid dependence, in step 3 the issues of urbanization and unemployment, and in step 6 the danger of privatization leading to foreign takeover. The discussion explores the barriers Africa faces in ending aid domination and the path by which these challenges can be overcome. Moving away from a simple acceptance that "largess from the rich" (3) is the norm of international politics leads to a reconsideration of international aid architecture as a whole.

This is a brief book of only 144 pages; however, the text is dense and strongly focused on the theme of altering...