Dealing With Africa's Debt

(This article was written June 14, 2005)

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
Give a man a fishing net and he will eat for a lifetime…
but only if he is willing to work.

Probably because of all my work with charities and relief organizations, I have been receiving loads of email letting me know “how thrilled I am that the G-8 is going to begin forgiving the debts of many African nations.” I can only assume these same people would not be so thrilled to discover that I am not all that sure this is a great idea. It’s not that I do not believe nations like Chad, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Guinea need help: I simply am not all that certain this is the “help” they need.

Here in the US, Congress has made it increasingly difficult for people to walk away from their debts via bankruptcy. Evidently, when people discover that they can stiff Bank of America and Sears, reneging on their debt with impunity, they are prone to doing just that. So how is it that a murdering thug like Mugabe (Zimbabwe’s present tyrant) will now be able to do what is no longer thought ethical or legal for US citizens?

I know there is not a one-to-one correlation here, but inquiring minds of debt-encumbered US citizens sure would like to know how come we are going to wipe out the debts of nations (debt that was financed via taking money away from citizens to give to these nations) but not do the same for it’s citizens?

“Well, because you citizens should have known better than to live above your means." And Ethiopia is too ignorant to have known better?

"Because it is now simply impossible for these people to even survive under this massive load of debt." And I am doing just peachy?

"Because we do not want to encourage irresponsible debt by American citizens." But we do want to encourage this behavior in Chad?

Chad is on the top five list of Most Corrupt African Governments. (Citizens of Chad: “We’re Number Four!”) Was it unable to pay its debts because of a) famine and pestilence; or b) because of dummying the books to cover up kick backs by government officials? (Hint: it is not “a.”)

Blair and Bush tell the world that the release of debts will be wedded together with requiring good governing practices. So, what many of these nations that will be celebrating Christmas early this year have refused to do for decades (accurate and transparent bookkeeping, sound fiscal policies, etc.) they will now be delighted to do? Does anyone actually believe this?

Will the leaders of G-8 actually have the political will to hold African nations accountable for how they spend the money saved by cancellation of debt and the reception of on-going aid?

President Mugabe has exterminated many of Zimbabwe’s most productive farmers because they happen to be white. Just last week he destroyed the homes of over 100.000 of the nation’s poorest people because he wanted to chase them out of the city where they were living. Seems he is a tad worried they may not be all that happy with what has happened to the nation and may begin taking to the streets to demand new leadership.

Are we really going to come to the aid of a tyrant who single handedly destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy? Can’t we at least tell Zimbabwe’s political leaders, “When your murdering thug of a President is no longer in a position of power, give us a call”? Of course, if Mugabe was white and he was killing black farmers, we would have already convened the Security Council at the UN and Bush and Blair would be talking about possible military action.

Ethiopia’s President is whacking peaceful protesters who believe his most recent reelection was rigged. I have yet to hear the member nations of G-8 say, “Stop suppressing freedom of speech and murdering dissenters or you won’t see one dime.”

Again, G-8 and various agencies say that they are going to tie debt cancellation to the requirement that the recipient nations use the money that would have gone to the monthly payment of debts to the building of schools, hospitals, roads and such things. Maybe I am not as deep a thinker as U2’s Bono, but it seems to me that if I cannot pay my debts because I do not have enough money to do so, and those debts are then cancelled, I will not, thereby, have any extra income to do what I promised to do in order to get you to cancel my debts.

I honestly do think Bono has spent considerable time thinking about what to do with the burden of debt that so many African nations are wrestling with. I also think his heart is in the right place. (Although I still endorse the sentiment expressed in the title of Laura Ingraham’s book, “Shut Up and Sing!”) But altruistic motives don’t always translate into real world wisdom.

About ten years ago, Zambia’s then President Chiluba offered thousands of poor families that had poured into the capital city looking for food, two acres of land in the country and enough corn seed to plant so as to begin feeding their families. Hardly anyone took him up on his offer. Why? After decades of a socialistic state that fed them all for free (and, O, by the way, bankrupted the nation’s economy), no one was up for working for their food.

As we here in the US have finally begun to learn through the dismal failures of our welfare state, throwing money at people doesn’t solve problems, it only exacerbates them.

The problem with many of the people in the nation’s we wish to help is not that they do not have the tools or capital with which to farm or build businesses: it is that they all too often do not have the will or motivation to work. Furthermore, it was the wrongheaded policies of the US, Great Britain and other donor nations that helped see to it that this destructive mindset was rewarded.

If we are finally going to inexorably tie our aid to human rights, responsible fiscal policies, and on-going demonstrations of an increasingly productive populace then the cancellation of debt may be a great help to these nations. However—I have yet to see any display of this sort of political will power that would lead me to believe we will actually demand such accountability.

copyright Monte E Wilson, 2007