Andrew Mwenda is a famous Ugandan activist, journalist and entrepreneur. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank and is a regular speaker at conferences around the world. Mwenda has been a strong critic of western aid and charity in Africa for what he calls their ineffectiveness and collusion with corrupt governments on the continent. In his delivery at the 2007 TED conference in Arusha, Tanzania, he argued that aid in Africa goes to the least deserving rather than those countries who have attempted some reform, seemingly rewarding incompetence.
He explained that western aid has been overwhelmingly unhelpful for Africa’s development, stating that it encourages dependency, sustains war and fuels corrupt states. Mwenda dreams of an Africa of the future, where the economy and political institutions are run by the ideas and designs of its brightest minds.
