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Re-restructuring Foreign Aid: A Response to Dambisa Moyo
The Government of Rwanda recently declared its intention to significantly decrease its dependence on foreign aid within the next five years. For a country that relies on donors for between 60-70% of its government expenditures, this statement might seem brash and irresponsible. However, Dambisa Moyo, the former Head of Economic Research and Strategy for sub-Saharan Africa at Goldman Sachs and a former employee of the World Bank, believes that rejecting foreign aid is the only way to ensure lasting development in sub-Saharan Africa. Moyo’s arguments are provocative, but to reject foreign aid entirely is to discount the benefits aid has brought and can continue to bring to Africa. Rather than rejecting it, foreign aid should be restructured to strengthen the capacities of, and synergies between, governments and the private sector.