Is the effect of Moyos book going to damage the flow of aid?
I don’t think so. The G8 has just made a statement pledging support for agriculture [promising to mobilize U.S. $20 billion over three years]. There has been a steady increase in aid… and of course we know that humanitarian assistance with HIV/Aids and other health issues and education [is] significant. But what is being said on the continent is that we need to devise strategies that move away from aid dependency. Aid is not sustainable. What is sustainable is trade and therefore we have the slogan “aid for trade.” We need to be channelling aid towards infrastructural development and towards encouraging intra-African trade… and creating an investment-friendly climate in Africa. You don’t think that her book, which calls for an end to aid, will give ammunition to forces which are not friendly to Africa, that it will give them an excuse not to give aid? In a sense, yes, but there are sufficient voices in the continent saying that this is an irresponsible statement at this stage, [alt
