Abstract

Naudet, Jean-David. Finding the Solutions to Fit the Problem: Twenty Years of Aid to the Sahel, OECD, 2000. 312. $50.

According to Elliot Berg, Africa now absorbs almost 40% of total official development assistance. However, per capita income growth in this region was negative in five of the six years between 1990 and 1995. Elsewhere in the developing world, growth was more than 4%. Therefore, if increased economic productivity is the desired output, something must be wrong with foreign assistance. Some of the reasons leading to this poor performance include: the donor-driven character of most aid, the lack of recipient ownership, poor donor coordination, weak host country aid management, unfavorable policy environment, and the use of inappropriate instruments. [To view this article, please download the PDF.]