Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Trip to Africa after 20 years

I went back to Nigeria, after twenty years, to do research on my novel. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to check out photos!

Dead Aid

Check out this book called "Dead Aid: Why Aid is not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa" by Dambisa Moyo.

Written by a young female African economist, the book argues that although well-intentioned, Western aid projects end up doing more damage than good. She critcizes big Western aid projects (e.g. "We have the solution to save you") like those promoted by Jeffrey Sachs and Bono. She says aid creates dependency, nurtures corruption and kills local entreprenership. For example, handing out free mosquito nets puts the local mosquito net vendor out of business.