by Sue Myburgh

Created on: April 19, 2008

In the 1970s, I remember seeing John Deere tractors rusting in the middle of farmlands in Lesotho. A couple more nestled up to the walls of the local chief's kraal, providing a useful, if expensive, chicken shed. At the same time, I met many youngsters from the United States, who, with great enthusiasm and energy, belonged to the Peace Corps, and were doing a number of jobs to help the situation of the local communities. China was also investing in various factories, involving light industry.

All of these phenomena were different expressions of the ways in which the Minority World, at individual, community or governmental level, were seeking to 'assist' African nations which were seen as deprived, underdeveloped, poor, and lacking health and education systems. And they certainly did not bear close resemblance to Minority World countries at the time, with democratic systems of government, shops full of things to sell, and easy access to telephones, electricity, housing, clean water and sewage, and new cars. African countries were (and still are) predominantly agricultural, and the more remote the community, the less it enjoyed by way of Western-style infrastructure.

Since the African countries achieved independence from colonisation, largely during the late 1950s and early 1960s, trillions of dollars have poured into the various countries. During this time there have been many emergencies, often caused by drought or flood; there have been several instances of genocide; disease is an ongoing problem, from measles to AIDS; the land becomes devastated through over population and poorly considered agricultural practices. But,sooner or later, the question must be asked: What difference, if any, has all this foreign aid made to the individual citizens of African countries and, more importantly, to the economic growth of the continent?

I have extensive experince of living in and travelling around in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, and have done so since the 1960s - over 40 years ago. A recent visit to South Africa and Tanzania led me to think that foreign aid has been a great deterrent to African economic growth, and, in fact, disempowers and infantalises the African heritageand nations. 'Development', while often carried out with the best of intentions by those on the ground - those brave enough to deal with the conditions on the ground which include heat, humidity, mosquitoes and spiders, disease, lack of fresh water and various other minor irritants and life-threatening

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