You are a National Treasure for ALL. The way of explaining hard issues in the most direct and meaningful ways is brilliant.
You don’t just waste time arguing bout a subject, you explain HOW IT IMPACTS our daily lives and that’s so relevant and refreshing. Bravo Madame Bravo.
USAID is a deceptively named organization that is not a legitimate charity. It is, and always has been an arm of the US government and the CIA. This organization is where ex CIA directors go after they "retire" to continue operations. This group has been working to overthrow and destabilize governments all over the world under the disguise of an aid organization - Vietnam, Haiti, USSR. All of this to allow corporations to exploit cheap labor and install cooperative (often brutal) governments. Thank you for standing up and exposing this deception!
100% accurate. Do not be misled into thinking the US Deep State is interested in a free and self-sufficient Africa. Quite the contrary. The perpetual bureaucracy WANTS Africa dependent on US foreign aid so they can continue to manipulate the economic and political future of the continent.
The sad thing is that most Americans don’t understand this. Africans are incredibly entrepreneurial - I lived in Ivory Coast for 2 years in the late 60s as a Peace Corps volunteer. Every one of my neighbors sold something - no matter how poor they were they were creating or foraging for something to trade.
And, the Peace Corps is another effort to spread American hegemony, not economic development assistance.
Remember too that if Africans remain poor and dependent the “donor nations” get to exploit their abundant resources for their own benefit! Look at Congo and cobalt.
So true, if only Congo could be controlled by its people the country could break the decades of exploitation by other countries of their abundant resources, cobalt, diamonds, uranium - seems whatever the world needs at the moment they find it in Congo. They should be one of the richest countries on the planet, instead as you say the "donor nations" take everything.
Preach it, sister. Been there, done that, tired of the self-serving fairy tales. Shiny white Landcruisers, big expat budgets and homes, 10% for the people who are supposed to be helped, and then we pat ourselves on the back about how virtuous we are. And that’s just from the community development side. The sinister CIA and cultural imperialism side is far more immoral.
But this is nothing new. Google “The Development Set,” a poem by Ross Coggins. He wrote about all of this back in 1976.
Add to that the hubris of these people. A friend of mine asked one of his friends who works in one of these US foreign aid agencies to read my book "The Heart of the Cheetah".
In the book I speak of the hardships of people living in poverty and misery and the harsh realities of poor medical support with people laying on hospital beds where the cats are waiting beneath the bed to catch any drip of blood falling down.
Her feedback after reading it was: "Well it is just not my lived experience on the ground".
But how could her lived experience in Africa be similar to mine when, courtesy of taxpayers money, she gets to enjoy a driver for their big Range/Land Rovers, a cook, a gardener, business class tickets for the whole family to go back home in the West at least once a year, a nanny for each of her three children... in short enjoying the posh life of an expat full of fancy parties and elite access to pretty much anything her heart desires. For the sickest among them, it might even include access to little boys or girls.
The worse is these people live in an alternate world. They live in their bubbles from where they just don't and can't see us.
Hubris. Arrogance. “We” have superior knowledge “we” impose on people who know how to live in situations “we” could never survive on “our” own experience alone.
Their “lived” experience is inside the expert bubble. Everything you said is spot on.
I’ve posted a couple extended comments about my experiences with USAID over the past few days and have received some surprisingly dogged and unpleasant responses. I’ve wondered why the respondents were so upset, then realized they are trying to defend their belief that they are somehow virtuous because of their blind support for the defunct agency. They actually think their support for USAID is virtuous and that they can outsource their need to be virtuous. They would rather ignore or argue with the reality than to be told they supported a corrupt and harmful institution.
It is helpful to hear from "real" people for those of us unaware. I see your book "The Heart of the Cheetah" on Amazon & will look into it. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Magatte for writing this! I wondered what you would have to say and I am not a bit surprised. I wish they would actually talk to honest citizens from the receiving countries, but grifts once instituted, regardless of intention, are hard to uproot. Hope you are thriving.
Well said! However, the 'popular demand' for Aid in the West is still reasonably high (just look at Mr Beasts videos)... We'll have to wait and see what the lasting effects of this are.
Not sure sure what you mean by "the 'popular demand' for Aid in the West is still reasonably high (just look at Mr Beasts videos)". Could you please explain?
Just a reference to the viral sucess of the Mr Beast Youtube Channel and their philanthropy videos in Africa. Since these videos are so popular it might suggest there's some appetite for traditional foreign aid step ups in some western countries.
Africa probably does not need USAID, especially given that much of USAID funding is spent on US admin + implementation costs.
But then some countries will have to fund certain programs (malaria, TB, HIV, women’s health) from domestic resources without the usual excuse of « Les bailleurs de fonds imposent des conditions inacceptables » when their governments fail to deliver on commitments to their own people.
Un pays magnifique (comme le Nigeria et l’Ethiopie) plein de capacités et de gens brilliants mais abîmé par la corruption et la politique politicienne.
This is only the first pillar of the aid industrial complex. The real change will happen once the world bank and IMF are abolished.
Furthermore there needs to be harsh punishments for countries that default on their debts. I think it's fair game for America to invade Argentina if Milei fails to unfuck his country's finances.
Th only way to abolish the like of the WB and IMF is to render them irrelevant. For that to happen we need to ensure there is no more poor nation, which means we need to get serious about prosperity building, hence my focus on Economic Freedom and Energy as the winning formula.
Nah. They need to be abolished as soon as possible. You will only get more failure if you continue to subsidize it. Besides economic development or industrialisation is a very difficult process and some societies will never make it.
On a side note, Argentina is not a poor country. It's per capita income is similar to that of China and Malaysia. 5 times richer than India. However, they're the biggest beneficiary of the IMF and the aid industrial complex. It's not about money, it's about moral character.
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines 80-82, I solicited a $2000 dollar grant from USAID to complete a water system from a nearby spring to a barrio that previously had no safe water system. This project was so successful that in the intervening decades, the local people expanded upon the project to dig multiple new wells with accompanying piping to feed the barrio below. Furthermore, they cordoned off the entire spring watershed to ensure continued safety of the water supply. This is how USAID once worked (and how it should work). What we see today is a fraudulent remnant of JFK's promise when creating this agency. Considering today's rot in the agency, it appears the only solution may be to dissolve the entire agency. It is doubtful the embedded bureaucrats can be reformed.
We’ve directly supported a friends’ girls home in Eswatini. It's called Hosea’s Heart. She moved there decades ago, the money goes straight to them. It's a small endeavor.
I don't trust these huge non profits in the BUSINESS of helping.
Excellent articulation of the problem. I have spent over 2 years in East Africa, mostly Kenya and there is a whole group of people living the highlife thanks to government, NGO, and to a lesser degree, corporate money. It's a great lifestyle with frequent safaris and the best schooling for your kids for free (not free, paid for by government agency or NGO). What you didn't cover were the two key other things that keep Africa from succeeding: corruption and tribalism. People in Africa become elected officials because its the easiest way to become rich. And the people don't really object to it because, just a middle and lower class people in the West don't object to billionaires as they think they might be one some day, Africans think they might be the rich politician someday. Tribalism remains a problem as someone from the wrong tribe won't get a job if the boss is from another tribe. There are hundreds of thousands of college graduates in Kenya unemployed for that and other reasons. Tribalism is getting a little better as Africans intermarry but still a big issue. Africans are very bright, capable people but until the aid ends, the corruption is stopped (and only the voter can do that), and tribalism ends, Africa will continue to have problems, especially as its population grows faster than any other continent.
There is a psychological and economic war, albeit subtle, on Africans and Africa. This war is presented as foreign Aid, democracy and cooperation. The solution is mental and economic freedom. But sadly most Africans hate hate it.
Where can I find a debate about this issue? This article represents the libertarian, individualist, anti-establishment “foreign aid is bad” side of the argument, but it also seems to be laser-focused on the manifestations of aid that support this view. How well does this argument carry over to aid intended to address disease for example? Does individualism treat HIV?
People of particular ideological persuasions will be happy to have found an African who reinforces their assumptions, but I’d like to hear some back-and-forth on this issue.
Excellent article! Many of us in the US who have traveled also see the same outcomes in other places where foreign aid goes. It enriches the local government leaders and NGO workers…and that’s about it. I was a big fan of programs like Kiva that offered small business loans but that sort of took a weird turn also. Everything good always seems to get corrupted at some point except for a strong local economy. Tons of small businesses make for a robust local economy. Not huge corporations employing a few while the rest subsist on hand outs and the big companies ship all the profits out of the community. That theft model happens here in the US also believe it or not. Just not as obvious. Please keep sharing and writing on this. You have a great platform and voice.
You are a National Treasure for ALL. The way of explaining hard issues in the most direct and meaningful ways is brilliant.
You don’t just waste time arguing bout a subject, you explain HOW IT IMPACTS our daily lives and that’s so relevant and refreshing. Bravo Madame Bravo.
Thank you for making my brain bigger.
Maria
Thank you!
USAID is a deceptively named organization that is not a legitimate charity. It is, and always has been an arm of the US government and the CIA. This organization is where ex CIA directors go after they "retire" to continue operations. This group has been working to overthrow and destabilize governments all over the world under the disguise of an aid organization - Vietnam, Haiti, USSR. All of this to allow corporations to exploit cheap labor and install cooperative (often brutal) governments. Thank you for standing up and exposing this deception!
Thank you. We haven't even began to understand the amount of harm done by this agency.
Exactly right!
100% accurate. Do not be misled into thinking the US Deep State is interested in a free and self-sufficient Africa. Quite the contrary. The perpetual bureaucracy WANTS Africa dependent on US foreign aid so they can continue to manipulate the economic and political future of the continent.
The sad thing is that most Americans don’t understand this. Africans are incredibly entrepreneurial - I lived in Ivory Coast for 2 years in the late 60s as a Peace Corps volunteer. Every one of my neighbors sold something - no matter how poor they were they were creating or foraging for something to trade.
And, the Peace Corps is another effort to spread American hegemony, not economic development assistance.
Remember too that if Africans remain poor and dependent the “donor nations” get to exploit their abundant resources for their own benefit! Look at Congo and cobalt.
So true, if only Congo could be controlled by its people the country could break the decades of exploitation by other countries of their abundant resources, cobalt, diamonds, uranium - seems whatever the world needs at the moment they find it in Congo. They should be one of the richest countries on the planet, instead as you say the "donor nations" take everything.
Preach it, sister. Been there, done that, tired of the self-serving fairy tales. Shiny white Landcruisers, big expat budgets and homes, 10% for the people who are supposed to be helped, and then we pat ourselves on the back about how virtuous we are. And that’s just from the community development side. The sinister CIA and cultural imperialism side is far more immoral.
But this is nothing new. Google “The Development Set,” a poem by Ross Coggins. He wrote about all of this back in 1976.
Add to that the hubris of these people. A friend of mine asked one of his friends who works in one of these US foreign aid agencies to read my book "The Heart of the Cheetah".
In the book I speak of the hardships of people living in poverty and misery and the harsh realities of poor medical support with people laying on hospital beds where the cats are waiting beneath the bed to catch any drip of blood falling down.
Her feedback after reading it was: "Well it is just not my lived experience on the ground".
But how could her lived experience in Africa be similar to mine when, courtesy of taxpayers money, she gets to enjoy a driver for their big Range/Land Rovers, a cook, a gardener, business class tickets for the whole family to go back home in the West at least once a year, a nanny for each of her three children... in short enjoying the posh life of an expat full of fancy parties and elite access to pretty much anything her heart desires. For the sickest among them, it might even include access to little boys or girls.
The worse is these people live in an alternate world. They live in their bubbles from where they just don't and can't see us.
Hubris. Arrogance. “We” have superior knowledge “we” impose on people who know how to live in situations “we” could never survive on “our” own experience alone.
Their “lived” experience is inside the expert bubble. Everything you said is spot on.
I’ll check out your book.
Thank you. I look forward to your thoughts after you have read it.
I’ve posted a couple extended comments about my experiences with USAID over the past few days and have received some surprisingly dogged and unpleasant responses. I’ve wondered why the respondents were so upset, then realized they are trying to defend their belief that they are somehow virtuous because of their blind support for the defunct agency. They actually think their support for USAID is virtuous and that they can outsource their need to be virtuous. They would rather ignore or argue with the reality than to be told they supported a corrupt and harmful institution.
It is helpful to hear from "real" people for those of us unaware. I see your book "The Heart of the Cheetah" on Amazon & will look into it. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Magatte for writing this! I wondered what you would have to say and I am not a bit surprised. I wish they would actually talk to honest citizens from the receiving countries, but grifts once instituted, regardless of intention, are hard to uproot. Hope you are thriving.
Thanks so much, Reena. I am glad this issue is finally being acted on, not just debated ad nauseam. Hope you guys are thriving too!
Yes! All good. M is an adult living in nyc and we’re empty nesters up to our usual. Love to you & Michael.
Well said! However, the 'popular demand' for Aid in the West is still reasonably high (just look at Mr Beasts videos)... We'll have to wait and see what the lasting effects of this are.
Not sure sure what you mean by "the 'popular demand' for Aid in the West is still reasonably high (just look at Mr Beasts videos)". Could you please explain?
Just a reference to the viral sucess of the Mr Beast Youtube Channel and their philanthropy videos in Africa. Since these videos are so popular it might suggest there's some appetite for traditional foreign aid step ups in some western countries.
Fantastic piece that hits at the heart of the issue with aid money!
Thank you for taking the time to read it.
Thank you , Magatte, for your courage and honesty. We all need our eyes wide open to the truth. I’m getting your book. God bless.
Africa probably does not need USAID, especially given that much of USAID funding is spent on US admin + implementation costs.
But then some countries will have to fund certain programs (malaria, TB, HIV, women’s health) from domestic resources without the usual excuse of « Les bailleurs de fonds imposent des conditions inacceptables » when their governments fail to deliver on commitments to their own people.
Foreign Aid has delayed very necessary reforms by bailing out corrupt leaders and inefficient systems.
Tout à fait.
Notre cher Suunugal étant grand spécialiste en la matière.
Please do not get me started...(sigh)
Un pays magnifique (comme le Nigeria et l’Ethiopie) plein de capacités et de gens brilliants mais abîmé par la corruption et la politique politicienne.
This is only the first pillar of the aid industrial complex. The real change will happen once the world bank and IMF are abolished.
Furthermore there needs to be harsh punishments for countries that default on their debts. I think it's fair game for America to invade Argentina if Milei fails to unfuck his country's finances.
Th only way to abolish the like of the WB and IMF is to render them irrelevant. For that to happen we need to ensure there is no more poor nation, which means we need to get serious about prosperity building, hence my focus on Economic Freedom and Energy as the winning formula.
Nah. They need to be abolished as soon as possible. You will only get more failure if you continue to subsidize it. Besides economic development or industrialisation is a very difficult process and some societies will never make it.
On a side note, Argentina is not a poor country. It's per capita income is similar to that of China and Malaysia. 5 times richer than India. However, they're the biggest beneficiary of the IMF and the aid industrial complex. It's not about money, it's about moral character.
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines 80-82, I solicited a $2000 dollar grant from USAID to complete a water system from a nearby spring to a barrio that previously had no safe water system. This project was so successful that in the intervening decades, the local people expanded upon the project to dig multiple new wells with accompanying piping to feed the barrio below. Furthermore, they cordoned off the entire spring watershed to ensure continued safety of the water supply. This is how USAID once worked (and how it should work). What we see today is a fraudulent remnant of JFK's promise when creating this agency. Considering today's rot in the agency, it appears the only solution may be to dissolve the entire agency. It is doubtful the embedded bureaucrats can be reformed.
We’ve directly supported a friends’ girls home in Eswatini. It's called Hosea’s Heart. She moved there decades ago, the money goes straight to them. It's a small endeavor.
I don't trust these huge non profits in the BUSINESS of helping.
Excellent articulation of the problem. I have spent over 2 years in East Africa, mostly Kenya and there is a whole group of people living the highlife thanks to government, NGO, and to a lesser degree, corporate money. It's a great lifestyle with frequent safaris and the best schooling for your kids for free (not free, paid for by government agency or NGO). What you didn't cover were the two key other things that keep Africa from succeeding: corruption and tribalism. People in Africa become elected officials because its the easiest way to become rich. And the people don't really object to it because, just a middle and lower class people in the West don't object to billionaires as they think they might be one some day, Africans think they might be the rich politician someday. Tribalism remains a problem as someone from the wrong tribe won't get a job if the boss is from another tribe. There are hundreds of thousands of college graduates in Kenya unemployed for that and other reasons. Tribalism is getting a little better as Africans intermarry but still a big issue. Africans are very bright, capable people but until the aid ends, the corruption is stopped (and only the voter can do that), and tribalism ends, Africa will continue to have problems, especially as its population grows faster than any other continent.
There is a psychological and economic war, albeit subtle, on Africans and Africa. This war is presented as foreign Aid, democracy and cooperation. The solution is mental and economic freedom. But sadly most Africans hate hate it.
Where can I find a debate about this issue? This article represents the libertarian, individualist, anti-establishment “foreign aid is bad” side of the argument, but it also seems to be laser-focused on the manifestations of aid that support this view. How well does this argument carry over to aid intended to address disease for example? Does individualism treat HIV?
People of particular ideological persuasions will be happy to have found an African who reinforces their assumptions, but I’d like to hear some back-and-forth on this issue.
Wow, an article from an African about Africa, that's really refreshing! Keep up the good work.
Excellent article! Many of us in the US who have traveled also see the same outcomes in other places where foreign aid goes. It enriches the local government leaders and NGO workers…and that’s about it. I was a big fan of programs like Kiva that offered small business loans but that sort of took a weird turn also. Everything good always seems to get corrupted at some point except for a strong local economy. Tons of small businesses make for a robust local economy. Not huge corporations employing a few while the rest subsist on hand outs and the big companies ship all the profits out of the community. That theft model happens here in the US also believe it or not. Just not as obvious. Please keep sharing and writing on this. You have a great platform and voice.