"Dead Aid" describes the state of postwar development policy in Africa today and confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth.

Reviews

Economist Moyo (former head, Economic Research and Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa, Goldman Sachs) makes a startling assertion: charitable aid to African nations is not just ineffective-it is worse than no aid. Moyo, who was born and raised in Zambia, joins a small but growing number of observers (including microfinance expert Muhammad Yunnus) who argue that charity from Western nations cripples African governments by fostering dependency and corruption without requiring positive change. Deriding efforts to increase giving by foreign celebrities like U2 singer Bono as out of touch with the real needs of African countries, Moyo instead proposes solutions like new bond markets, microfinancing, and revised property laws. Moyo also singles out commercial investment from the Chinese (rather than general aid) and holds it up as an example for other nations to follow in the future. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Moyo's argument for such capitalist intervention in Africa, this straightforward and readable work should provide some food for thought.-April Younglove, Linfield Coll. Lib., Portland, OR Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Praise for "Dead Aid"
"Moyo is right to raise her voice, and she should be heard if African nations and other poor countries are to move in the right direction." --Jagdish Bhagwati, "Foreign Affairs
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"Moyo presents a refreshing view." --Lisa Miller, "Newsweek
""A tightly argued brief . . . Vivid." --Matthew Rees, "The Wall Street Journal
""An incendiary new book . . . Here is a refreshing voice . . . What makes "Dead Aid" so powerful is that it's a double-barrelled shotgun of a book. With the first barrel, Moyo demolishes all the most cherished myths about aid being a good thing. But with the second, crucially, she goes on to explain what the West could be doing instead." --Christopher Hart, "The Daily Mail
""Dambisa Moyo is to aid what Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to Islam. Here is an African woman, articulate, smart, glamorous, delivering a message of brazen political incorrectness: cut aid to Africa. Aid, she argues, has not merely failed to work; it has compounded Africa's problems. Moyo cannot be dismissed as a crank . . . She catalogues evidence, both statistical and anecdotal . . . The core of her argument is that there is a better alternative [and it deserves] to be taken seriously." --Paul Collier, "The Independent
""The wisdom contained here--if absorbed by African and global policymakers--will turn this chronically depressed continent into an inspiring miracle of dazzling economic growth." --STEVE FORBES, President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of "Forbes "magazine
"Dambisa Moyo makes a compelling case for a new approach in Africa. Her message is that Africa's time is now. It is time for Africans to assume full control over their economic and political destiny. Africans should grasp the many means and opportunities available to them for improving the quality of life. Dambisa is hard--perhaps too hard--on the role of aid. But her central point is indisputable. The determination of Afric