A beggar accepting money…The Indian Express
Constantly asking for handouts
Africa is largely dependent on aid from the United States, Europe, Asia and international donor agencies to develop its nations and its people.
This unapologetic dependency takes its roots from the colonial period when the continent was managed by European nations. Independence failed to liberate Africa economically as its leaders continued to fall in debt due to mismanagement and corruption.
Efforts made by some African leaders like Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara, DR Congo’s Patrice Lumumba among others to gain economic independence and development without aid were thwarted by coup d’état fueled by the West.
As current Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo reiterated during Ghana’s 61st independence anniversary parade on March 6, “The taxpayers of the aid-givers have a right to decide how their tax money is spent. The truth is that, even if there were no aid fatigue, and with the best will in the world and the most charitable governments in place in the so-called donor countries, there will never be enough aid to develop Ghana to the level we want. Aid was never meant to be what would bring us to the status of a developed nation.”
