Aid to Africa: Redeemer or Coloniser?

Debate on aid to Africa

While Africa is the biggest recipient of aid globally, the terms, conditions and principles upon which aid is delivered are rarely defined by the people of Africa – although it is for them that this aid, at least rhetorically, is meant to create positive change. With the current global economic crisis and high-level meetings on aid effectiveness, the debate on aid to Africa is resurgent.

African perspectives

Coming from the diverse perspectives of African social commentators, academics and activists including Demba Moussa Dembélé, Patrick Bond, Samir Amin and Charles Mutasa, this comprehensive volume explores the premise, history and foundation upon which the concept of aid is based. It considers aid's relationship to the broader development discourse in Africa, the politics and power dynamics of aid mechanisms and how the emergence of powers such as China and India are redefining the global aid architecture.

Understanding aid's inequity

Aid to Africa considers how to create a more just aid system that contributes to Africa's development while also elaborating alternative approaches that understand the inherent inequity of aid. Critically, this book provides a framework not merely to render aid more effective, something which the current mainstream discourse is grappling to define, but to create an alternative African development paradigm from Pan-Africanist, feminist and other perspectives.

"Relevant, academically well produced and a useful addition to the debate."
- Wolfgang Thomas, University of Stellenbosch Business School

'Pambazuka Press, in contrast to others, is determined to publish writings of long-term relevance: Aid to Africa: Redeemer or Coloniser? collects the reflections of fourteen intellectuals who, in the light of new perspectives, go so far as to question the relevance of all development aid.'
- Ilka Vari-Lavoisier, Le Monde diplomatique

If you're an African non-governmental organisation of limited funds, please email info@pambazukapress.org to arrange a complimentary copy of this ebook (Adobe PDF).