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African History 7.4 The Role of International Aid 3 Views


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Description:

We wish we could say that international financial aid always came from altruistic motivations… but would you believe us? Didn’t think so.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

The rich helping the poor. [People giving steet beggers money]

00:06

Sounds simple and good.

00:08

Like homemade vanilla ice cream.

00:10

But when we’re talkin’ rich countries sending aid to developing economies in Africa,

00:15

the ice cream flavor gets complicated.

00:17

Of course, things might be a little less complicated now than they were during the Cold War.

00:21

Back then, aid almost always came with a bundle of expectations for a government to support

00:26

the United States or the Soviet Union.

00:29

If an African state tried to go back on whatever promises they made to their super powered

00:33

benefactors, there’d be the devil to pay. [Man with devil horns knocking on Africa's door]

00:35

These days, things are little bit less ideological.

00:38

A lot of times, Western governments give aid in the form of debt forgiveness. [Government hands over 'certificate of debt forgiveness' to Africa]

00:42

This is when Western countries pay back African debts to Western central banks.

00:47

This helps African countries dial down their debt-to-GDP ratio, which makes all those neoliberalist

00:51

investors text happy emoticons to everyone they know. [Phone with smiley emotes appearing on the screen]

00:56

Other countries are a little pushier.

00:57

We’re lookin’ at you China and Iran.

00:59

When these countries send aid to Africa, there are definite strings attached.

01:04

Like the expectation that Iranian and Chinese companies be allowed to build factories there on favorable terms. [Big factories producing smoke]

01:10

Most people know that a bunch of foreign aid is pumped into Africa every year.

01:13

But it’s not quite as much as we might think.

01:15

Roughly 100 billion bucks come from the West…

01:18

About 150 billion from China…

01:20

And around 20 billion from other countries in the Middle East and Asia.

01:23

And yeah, all those billions sound like a lot, but it only makes up about 13% of Africa's

01:27

total GDP, which is actually 2 trillion dollars.

01:30

Of course, that’s an important 13%.

01:33

Imagine living with 13% less allowance.

01:36

That might mean nixing Friday night’s movie marathon at the local cinema… [Man with empty wallet walks away from the Theater]

01:39

Or even having to buy the iPhone 5 when all of your friends have the iPhone 97….that's

01:43

the generation they're on now, right?

01:45

Admittedly, this would not be cool.

01:47

But imagine if cutting 13% slashed stuff like basic health services and maintaining roads

01:51

and power grids.

01:53

Without that 13%, the developing nations of Africa might develop a lot slower. [Africa in a baby cot]

01:58

The United Nations also has skin in the aid game.

02:00

The UN founded the International Monetary Fund, an agency that provides low-interest

02:06

loans to developing governments.

02:08

However, the IMF can get a little pushy.

02:11

Much like the Lannisters, once you take the IMF's money, you're in its pocket.

02:15

The IMF has come under fire for strong-arming its borrowers into adopting neoliberal reforms.

02:21

And sometimes these reforms hurt a lot of people in the indebted country. ['Reform hammer' bashes governments into the ground]

02:24

In Tanzania, for example, the water supply of the Dar es Salaam region

02:29

was privatized and sold to a German company.

02:32

What did the Germans do with that precious substance that’s absolutely necessary for

02:36

life?

02:37

Well they jacked up the prices, that's what.

02:38

Which made the IMF eerily similar to the villain of a recent Bond movie… [Man with metal teeth]

02:42

So, yup, aid and loans from richer countries can definitely help developing African states

02:47

But a lot of Africans are mega-suspicious of the agendas of foreign countries and organizations.

02:53

Word to the wise: when an ice cream flavor gets this complicated, you never know what

02:56

might be lurking in the mix. [Cockroach crawling around in ice cream]

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