James Shikwati, an Economist interviewed in der Spiegel, says bluntly that aid to Africa is counterproductive.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Shikwati, the G8 summit at Gleneagles is about to beef up the development aid for Africa…

Shikwati: … for God’s sake, please just stop.

SPIEGEL: Stop? The industrialized nations of the West want to eliminate hunger and poverty.

Shikwati: Such intentions have been damaging our continent for the past 40 years. If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor.

Wow. While I came to the conclusion a while back that political reform — ending the brutal kleptocracies that plague the continent — was the only real solution to mass poverty and starvation going on — I am not sure I would have even considered just ending aid entirely. Looking at it objectively, a case can be made for it, however. The figures are often trotted out — by memory, the world is producing ever more food and a staggering amount of food and money has been poured into African aid over the past 15 years (with the US contributing as much as the rest of the G8 combined). Nevertheless, as Mr. (or Dr. — it is unclear) Shikwati points out, there has been no real imporvement.

Indeed, he points to a number of problems being caused by the aid being sent in, even if it reaches its intended target:

Shikwati: Why do we get these mountains of clothes? No one is freezing here. Instead, our tailors lose their livlihoods. They’re in the same position as our farmers. No one in the low-wage world of Africa can be cost-efficient enough to keep pace with donated products. In 1997, 137,000 workers were employed in Nigeria’s textile industry. By 2024, the figure had dropped to 57,000. The results are the same in all other areas where overwhelming helpfulness and fragile African markets collide.

SPIEGEL: Following World War II, Germany only managed to get back on its feet because the Americans poured money into the country through the Marshall Plan. Wouldn’t that qualify as successful development aid?

Shikwati: In Germany’s case, only the destroyed infrastructure had to be repaired. Despite the economic crisis of the Weimar Republic, Germany was a highly- industrialized country before the war. The damages created by the tsunami in Thailand can also be fixed with a little money and some reconstruction aid. Africa, however, must take the first steps into modernity on its own. There must be a change in mentality. We have to stop perceiving ourselves as beggars. These days, Africans only perceive themselves as victims. On the other hand, no one can really picture an African as a businessman. In order to change the current situation, it would be helpful if the aid organizations were to pull out.

* * *

SPIEGEL: The German government takes pride in precisely monitoring the recipients of its funds.

Shikwati: And what’s the result? A disaster. The German government threw money right at Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame. This is a man who has the deaths of a million people on his conscience — people that his army killed in the neighboring country of Congo.

SPIEGEL: What are the Germans supposed to do?

Shikwati: If they really want to fight poverty, they should completely halt development aid and give Africa the opportunity to ensure its own survival. Currently, Africa is like a child that immediately cries for its babysitter when something goes wrong. Africa should stand on its own two feet.

And wow again. Powerful stuff. The law of unintended consequences writ large.

At the very least, the negative effects that he points out need to be looked at carefully when deciding what kind of aid should be sent in the future — and maybe whether aid should be sent in a given case at all. Certainly, his point about the infrastructure seems sound, and years of trying to build one artificially have been a dismal failure to date.

EDITED TO ADD: It seems James Joiner (or Kate writing at his site) beat me to this one at Outside the Beltway.