Teach a Man to Fish: Can Aid Restrict a Country’s Ability to Grow?

Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Ghana’s Communications Minister, spoke at the twelfth Ministerial Meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII). He said that the development of skills and human-capacity building were essential in order to close the divide between the rich and the poor sides of the globe. He added that knowledge, technology and innovation needed to progress in Africa in order to come closer to achieving internationally-set global development targets such as the Millennium Development Goals.

At the core of the discussion was the firm belief that such advancements would play a central role in reducing poverty.

The Department for International Development (DFID) stated that economic growth is the only way in which poverty can be permanently alleviated. In fact, the DFID claimed that economic growth is responsible for 80% of the reduction in poverty since 1980.

In 2008, The UK Government and the United Nations Development Programme began the Business Call to Action (BCtA) global initiative. The event brought together 80 business leaders in London to put their ingenious thinking caps together and develop innovative business proposals for poorer countries. The goal was to increase employment, help existing businesses thrive and transform the image of these countries from a high-risk investment to a land flourishing with opportunities. 

The Coca Cola Company (TCCC) offered a successful case study. Through the BCtA initiative, they managed to create more than 2,800 Manual Development Centres (MDCs) and employed over 13,000 people. According to an IFC and Harvard Kennedy School Report, MDC owners and employers were expected to support an estimated 48,000 dependents in Tanzania and Ethiopia. And most encouragingly, the TCCC provided such individuals with long-term business, entrepreneurship and life skills through structured training programmes.

In addition, internet-savvy organisations such as Microsoft and Google can help Africans come up-to-speed in the technological age. Specialist health professionals can work with medics of Africa and help them advance their skills. Artists can run workshops to awaken dormant creativity. Regularly organised and updated courses, seminars and workshops spearheaded by successful entrepreneurs will help to educate the poor and unleash the potential that exists.

Economic poverty is hindered by the presence of poverty of thought. Scattering seeds of belief on neglected soil can lead to a fruitful future by growing an employable society that can provide for itself.

A recent article in The Guardian by Larry Elliott and Heather Stewart, entitled ‘Africa Begins to Make Poverty History’, reported an improvement in the condition of Africa’s poverty, although the exact cause was unidentified. A report by two US-based researchers, Xavier Sala-i-Martin and Maxim Pinkovskiy, was cited which claimed that by 2006 the African poverty rate was 30% lower than in 1995, and 28% lower than in 1990. The authors added that although the progress was very small, it gave a glimmer of hope for the future. But these results need to be built upon with the goal to maintain long-term recovery.

In order to achieve this, Africa should not be leaning against the crumbling shoulder of aid. The need for aid should eventually be eradicated along with the poverty it serves to help. To get closer to a permanent change, affluent countries should continue educating the people of Africa on how to skilfully handle a fishing rod, instead of handing them the occasional fish.