Dambisa Moyo’s Curious Complaint Against Bono’s “Glamour Aid”

Not long after hearing about Dambisa Moyo’s new book, Dead Aid, in one of our own @U2 OTRs, a few voices came into my world asking if I had read her book or could believe what she said about Bono’s efforts.

I hadn’t read her book.  What I did was read some interviews with her and track some of her appearences on her book tour, which are advertised on her website.  Don’t know if I will read her book now that I’ve learned more about her core arguments, which are: aid, especially charitable aid, doesn’t help Africa as much as some Westerners might think; many African governments are corrupt; trade with Africa and a home-grown economy are what Africa needs for a better, sustainable, future; celebrities don’t help Africans by portraying the continent as second-rate, desperate and hungry. (She wrote a book on these points?)

The more I read, the more I thought of all Bono has said since joining the Jubilee 2000 campaign in 1999.  Bono was making the case for acts of justice in Western relations toward Africa ten years ago and has followed it with calls for debt relief, calls for increased humanitarian aid to help combat AIDS and basic, easily treatable illnesses, and calls for increased trade.

Moyo seems curiously and conspicuously careful to not make Bono an exact target of her criticism.  She walks right up to the question but answers with complaints about “celebrities” in general. But that didn’t stop the New York Times from referring to her as “The Anti-Bono.” (Read just the first two questions from the Times to get a sense of her delicate handling of the Bono matter.)

To me, the most informative interview was with Guernica. It’s a long one, but it helped me greatly in getting a sense of how Moyo wanted to shape her argument and avoid admitting the fact that Bono has never advocated the aid models she’s attacking.

To be fair, she wants to talk about ending systematic aid to Africa:

Let’s be clear on one thing. My fundamental belief is that social services and public goods—roads, infrastructure, schools, and so on—are the responsibility of government. It is not the responsibility, nor the expectation, of Africans that those services should be provided by foreigners or outsiders. I do criticize any system where social services are provided by a system that is outside the continent. Because that means a system where the government is not accountable to its people. Do I think that these types of interventions help or do some good? Yes. But just to be clear, we need to know what they can and cannot do. I do not think that these types of interventions can deliver long-term sustainable growth or alleviate poverty. The example I give in my book is that with aid, you may be able to provide a scholarship for a girl to go to school, but how much use is that if at the end of the day, the economy hasn’t grown and there are no jobs for her?

Also, in fairness, she says her book talks very little about celebrities, but she tells Guernica she does want to say three things about celebrities and “Glamour Aid”:

First, I don’t think they’re right. I may have been more sympathetic if they were pushing an agenda for more trade or more foreign direct investment, but the fact that they’re pushing for an additional fifty billion dollars [in aid] illustrates to me that they don’t understand economics and perhaps do not add value to the debate.

The second point is that in the aid model, you disenfranchise Africans because the governments are not held accountable. The fact that there was a vacuum big enough for these celebrities to step in and speak, ostensibly, on behalf of the African continent is worrying. Africans stand in the hot African sun to elect their leaders, not celebrities. We expect African leaders to come up with policies about where they want to take Africa. We expect these leaders to attend G8 and other international gatherings to articulate a view of where they see Africa. The African people do not expect their countries to be represented by celebrities.

The third point is that these celebrities don’t portray Africa in a positive light. This continent suffers from a very severe PR problem. The world is asking us as to raise our children in an environment where we’re constantly told that we can’t do anything—we’re poor, we’re dirty, we’re impoverished, we’re hungry, we’re corrupt, we’re war-torn, disease-ridden.

Maybe Moyo knows that these three complaints really don’t apply to Bono’s words or actions.  And if she does, what then would she say of Bono’s efforts?  And if she does, why isn’t she saying more to encourage her teammate?

Have you read Dead Aid or come across more insights into Moyo’s arguments?  Let us know.

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