Aid to Africa: Redeemer or Coloniser?

While Africa is the biggest recipient of aid globally, the terms, conditions and principles upon which aid is delivered are rarely defined by the people of Africa - although it is for them that this aid, at least rhetorically, is meant to create positive change. With the current global economic crisis and high-level meetings on aid effectiveness, the debate on aid to Africa is resurgent. Coming from the diverse perspectives of African social commentators, academics and activists including Demba Moussa Dembele, Patrick Bond, Samir Amin and Charles Mutasa, this comprehensive volume explores the premise, history and foundation upon which the concept of aid is based. It considers aid’s relationship to the broader development discourse in Africa, the politics and power dynamics of aid mechanisms and how the emergence of powers such as China and India are redefining the global aid architecture. Aid to Africa considers how to create a more just aid system that contributes to Africa’s development while also elaborating alternative approaches that understand the inherent inequity of aid. Critically, this book provides a framework not merely to render aid more effective, something which the current mainstream discourse is grappling to define, but to create an alternative African development paradigm from Pan-Africanist, feminist and other perspectives.