The first couple of weeks of July is typically busy with lots of business events before the start of the holiday season and this month has certainly been no different.

Last week Monday, 13^th July, I had the privileged of participating in the BBC's Africa Debate.  The debate took place at the magnificent British Museum on a warm mid-summer’s night in London (the financial capital of the world) as the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa (a city full of symbolic importance for all of Africa) hosted world leaders for the Third International Conference on Financing for Development. This summit was presented as being crucial for the UN's efforts to end global poverty and manage climate change  with its 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals - due to be formally adopted in New York in October. 

The central question raised during the debate was: "Has Africa Outgrown Development Aid."  Let’s face it, it’s easier to settle for the status quo than to face the ‘what ifs’ that accompany progress wouldn't you agree?

In this article, I will give you the backdrop to the debate, summarise its key points and conclude with my thoughts and insights.

Ten years ago, a UK-government commission for Africa launched at the British Museum that coincided with the global movement to Make Poverty History in Africa. The commission encouraged partnership between Africa and the developed world rather than a relationship of dependency.

Monday’s debate was chaired by BBC presenter, Zainab Badawi and the panel consisted of:

Andrew Mitchell - Secretary of State for International Development, 2010-12;

Tutu Agyare - Managing Partner of Nubuke Investments;

Giles Bolton - author of "Aid and other dirty business"

At the start of the debate, we were reminded that a couple of months ago, President Kenyatta said Africa must start looking internally for solutions to its various challenges rather than continued dependency on other world economies including economic dependency.

"The future of our continent cannot be left to the good graces of outside interests. Dependency on giving that only appears to be charitable must end. Foreign aid, which so often carries terms and conditions that preclude progress is not an acceptable basis for prosperity and freedom. It is time to give it up," said the President.

The debate kicked off with the question: Is this rhetoric or has Africa outgrown development aid?

Below is my summary of the debate that ensued:

• No, Africa hasn’t outgrown development aid per se. Aid has a role and we can see the difference it can make as is demonstrated by the aid money for HIV aids and education However, it has outgrown how aid is delivered.  Currently, the way in which it’s delivered with its focus on the control by the donor organisations takes away from African countries a way to use aid for their own benefit and is more about accountability back to the people giving the money.
• Ghana was cited as a nation which has achieved middle income status and therefore reduced its eligibility for aid.
• Cultural dependency on development aid is killing our people. The Nairobi start-up scene is awash with development money and this is not sustainable.
• Focus should be on helping Africa to build the institutions required so that it isn’t reliant on development aid. Essentially, there should be a timeframe on aid with an exit strategy of the development community built in.
• As long as aid is the only source of financing, there will be an imbalance of power.
• The elephant in the room is tax evasion by multinational corporations which amounts to huge losses of revenue for the governments of African nations.
• In terms of alternatives for funding Africa’s development, the following were suggested: Africa has all the skills and resources it needs to develop the continent. What’s required to is for Africa to organise its resources and skills along with a strategic plan and implementation of the plan. Development aid used to be the main source of finance, now others sources such as remittances and investments form a significant portion and also domestic savings being organised as pension funds in countries like Kenya and Nigeria which can be put to use to build institutions and infrastructure.  So the debate has shifted away from development aid to what the aid / funds is used for is defined by Africans themselves to develop their institutions and infrastructure. There is also the innovative way in which the aid is being used for development in private-public partnership.  For example, M-Pesa, mobile-phone based money transfer and microfinancing service, launched in 2007 in a partnership between Vodafone for Safaricom and Vodacom, the largest mobile network operators in Kenya and Tanzania. M-Pesa was designed by Kenyans, funded by DFID and commercialised by Vodafone.  Therefore development aid should be moving from one of donors and recipients to one of collaboration and partnership.

The debate concluded by saying that:

• Development aid should help African nations get a better deal from international finance by building better systems – such as ones for collect tax; curbing illicit financial flows between governments, international companies and the international audit profession and mispricing of exports - costing the continent about one trillion dollars over the last 50 years,according to a high-level panel chaired by former South African president Thabo Mbeki. More money, it turns out, flows out of Africa than into it.
• Development aid will be less important but more effective with a diminishing role and investment will have an increasing role. The western nations community should continue to give aid and pay taxes and African nations shouldn’t accept just anybody’s aid but make the conditions clear on how aid will be accepted and communicate this plan.
• Need to have a partnership whereby the donor partner (developed nations) work in partnership with the recipient partner.  
• Africans in the diaspora should use their skills, talent and experience for the development of Africa.

So, how then: Who is responsible for Africa’s development?  The saying goes that “charity begins at home” should be applicable to the context of Africa’s development meaning that ultimately Africa is responsibility for its own development.

This then begs the question: How should Africans approach the development of their own continent? In his pioneering book “Emerging Africa”, Kinsley Chiedu Moghalu suggests that the answer lies in 4 things: A worldview – a reflection / interpretation of the world by an individual / group and one’s place in it – and within that framework, values, strategy and organisation.

These four principals will need to be applied to the areas of fundamental importance to Africa, such as: governance, infrastructure, private sector development, education, science and technology. The development of Asian countries such as Malaysia & Singapore, provide good examples of countries with a clear vision with a worldview.

Therefore, I believe that Africa requires a set of enabling infrastructures to help it to sense, see its relevance globally and unlock deeper blockages that prevent profound institutional change. After which, Africa can play a different game in global affairs and take control of its own destiny by paying attention to the eco-system (rather than its “ego-system”) reviewing the place of development aid, foreign direct investment and remittances in its development and putting in place strong institutions to create an enabling environment for private sector-led growth. Only then can we see transformational change in Africa.

Joyce Sarpong

Founder and CEO of AfricaOracle