Neo-Colonialism and Donor Interventions: Western Aid Mechanisms

Abstract

Western aid-giving is couched in a progressive language of poverty reduction and human wellbeing. This chapter, however, casts critical light upon three Western aid modalities; project aid, budget support and aid ‘blending’ initiatives. It illustrates the way in which Western donor aid is often used as a subsidy for foreign corporate involvement in Africa despite dubious returns for the poorer citizenry in developing countries. For example, the chapter queries the ‘development’ auspices of private sector development (PSD) and Aid for Trade interventions carried out by the European Commission. It also challenges the role of development finance institutions (DFIs) in so-called aid blending projects, which combine public tax-payers money to DFI capital in African infrastructure projects. Donor budget support, meanwhile, is deemed a genuine obstacle to empirical sovereignty in African countries.