Posts Tagged “international development”
Ross • 8th Nov 2009 • Learning, Thinking • africa, aid, Dambisa Moyo, development, economics, international development, William Easterly
I have just finished this book, by Dambisa Moyo. It’s a very simple argument. So simple that the preface by Niall Ferguson means you can skip the majority of the book. After an hour, you’ll have the idea. As Niall points out, it’s slightly annoying that these arguments are taken more seriously when they come from Dambisa, an intelligent, attractive Ghanaian, rather than from older, whiter (but equally intelligent) critics of aid, such as Bill Easterly. But that’s not to the discredit of Ms Moyo or the arguments. Somebody needs to get the fact that aid is not the answer on the radar. Moyo does a good job as the ‘anti-Bono’.
Ross • 25th Oct 2009 • Living • africa, development, international development, kenya, kiva, loans, microfinance
Oh dear, it appears that Kiva has suffered another defaulting partner. This time, it’s Kenya’s Ebony Foundation that has stopped paying back loans – apparently using last year’s violence a a convenient reason to shirk its obligations. The organisation’s leaders are playing hide and seek. Unfortunately, this gives microfinance (and Kenya!) a bad name. I won’t be putting any more money into Kiva: this is not the first time a partner has failed to repay monies owed. This does not show Kiva’s due diligence in a good light. I would be much more understanding if it were loan recipients who were defaulting – but for a large partner to walk off with more than half a million dollars, well, as the saying goes, fool me once…
Ross • 29th Sep 2009 • Learning • africa, aid, development, international development
In what might qualify as a surrealistic moment, the Administrator of USAID asked a staffer to summarize the policy conclusions of the Vanity Fair analysis for U.S. foreign aid.
That’s from William Easterly’s working paper “Can the West save Africa?” A footnote to the passage reads:
I verified this by getting an actual copy of the memo
Ross • 29th Aug 2009 • Thinking • geography, international development, maps, world
I have always loved maps, and the mind-shift that occurs when you look at a map centred around a different meridian. Australian maps, which put Australia in the centre of the world and the US in the far right make the cities of the eastern seaboard (Boston, New York, Washington DC) look strangely isolated. The map above, from a Dutch firm of architects, is interesting, although I don’t buy the implicit ‘fortress’ argument. (Via Information is Beautiful)
Ross • 19th Aug 2009 • Thinking • development, finance, international development, microfinance
…it is impossible to read this year’s text without coming to the conclusion that microfinance is at a crossroads, and that it might do the industry a power of good if it was able to call a “time-out” to reassess its role. In the popular press, microfinance is still very much the developmental flavour of the month – and even the most battle-hardened aid veteran has to acknowledge its appeal as an alternative to the conventional ‘top down’ model for wasting taxpayers’ money. But… microfinance currently faces serious challenges – challenges that have been exacerbated by the global crisis. Should microfinance institutions shift from their essential social role to a (perhaps) more sustainable profit-seeking model? Can they go on relying (as they have done) on subventions of one sort or another from Western investors? Should they develop into more or less full service financial institutions, and become part of the formal financial sector?
That’s from the CSFI‘s Microfinance Banana Skins 2009, available as a free PDF. My answers would be yes, no, more, and yes, respectively.
Ross • 10th Jul 2009 • Living • careers, international development, jobs, work
Adam Smith International, an international development firm for which I worked a few years ago, is recruiting for a graduate role. If you have just graduated (or are about to) and have an interest in political and/or economic development, I can certainly recommend working at ASI: responsibility from day one, international travel and a really good, close-knit team. Details here.
