How much money has been donated to Africa over the years? What's been achieved?

Ok, let me make the obvious and unfortunately necessary disclaimer, THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE. This is about a landmass and the societies that inhabit it, not the color of anyones skin. This is about economics, politics, and geography.

This is something I want to hear viewpoints, perspectives, theories, etc. about because to me there are just so many things that don't add up.


Let's start with a simple, two-part question. How much money has been donated to Africa over the last half century? And how much have those donations achieved?

Well, obviously we cannot put an exact number on the amount of money donated to Africa in the last 50 years. The question is not intended to be answered literally, but rather generally.


[quote]While Mr Bush has been severely criticised for the invasion of Iraq, his green credentials, and the general deterioration of relations with the rest of the world, his African record has won considerable support.

At the top of the list is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), initiated in 2003.

At the time just 50,000 Africans were on anti-retroviral drugs.

Since then the US has pumped $18bn (

[QUOTE]What's been achieved?[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://pendletonpanther.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/2010collage.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Tito Beasley]So it HAS to beg some questions, chiefly among them: WHY is Africa still a shit hole? How much good are these donations doing? How much LONG TERM good are these donations doing? Who is at fault for the lack of efficiency when it comes to using donated money, the donor, the recipient, or both? Why are kids still getting eaten by bugs in these countries when SOOOOO much money has been given to stop it?[/QUOTE]

Africa has a lot of catching up to do. Europe had the same problems with struggles for power and influence just 100 years ago. The whole system in Africa is something which needs eons to get sorted out, just imagine a whole continent being divided into countries which don't have any business being... a country. The current set up of borders and centres of power are a huge reason why they're struggling. This can not be sorted out by a simple conference, money or even a short war.

The donations mostly are doing a lot for smaller communities. Still lots and lots of money is getting lost along the way. Governments and organisations are corrupt. The fault is not one person or one side. It's a much more delicate matter seeing as the whole system has grown to be corrupt and the ideas of helping certain cases like the West wants to...might just not work in Africa.

Next big problem: There's war all over the place, there's Muslim troops coming from the north, burning, raping and murdering, and shortly after installing sharia laws like their God didnt witness what they did the months prior to them gaining power. And the people flee. They end up in countries who already have their own problems to deal with. Over and over. And basically these issues juts move from one country to another. You'll have Ethiopia, the most stable country and basically the only African country which never was under Colonial suppression in history dealing with troops trying to enter their borders, financially and politically supporting other countries AND being one of the countries dealing with the most refugees in the area.

Another huge problem which is being underrated is the influence of Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern Muslim countries. Not only are they creating/supporting trouble and war in Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria (whether it be by sending weapons, financially supporting or political support for troops), they are waist deep in African issues. Idi Amin was in exile in Saudi Arabia. Still his nephew was leading rebels armies in Rwanda, Uganda and Congo. These troops were financially supported by funds from Saudi Arabia.

Remember the machetes the Tutsi used to kill of Hutus in Rwanda? China kept just sending huge shipments of machetes to Rwanda and Uganda, without asking. Point blank: there's a lot of financial and political stuff going on which will prevent Western powers from truly stepping in and helping out. Everybody knew what was happening in Rwanda, but the UN couldnt do shit and these Western powers like the US and UK decided it wasn't worth 'protecting democracy' there. The war basically ended when US marine fr

If people cared about Africa they would donate nothing. Half the donations just become commodities to fight and kill over, plus Africa is breeding itself into starvation, environment destruction, genocide, religious radicalism, and war. The first lesson they need to learn is self sufficiency, until then donations just make enablers out of us for the status quo.

If you exclude Egypt, FAR more money has been donated to Israel than the rest of Africa.

Great post dough.

You obviously have a lot of knowledge on the subject. The countries that are doing better, South Africa etc... What sets them apart from the countries like Congo, Rawanda etc, that are having so many problems?

Is the inflation still ridiculous in (was it?) Kenya? with trillion dollar notes?

i work with someone from Ghana. talking to him makes me realize we have a ignorant view of Africa. everything he tells me there are many parts of Africa that are developed and just like the U.S., and he said those undeveloped parts are like the boon docks of the U.S., out in nowhere. the stuff from Wild Kingdom, etc. with the tribes and villages is out in nowhere, but we all see this sstuff and think thats Africa when its the desolate pockets of Africa.

anyways i think the bigger issue with donations is how funds are allocated towards their purpose. i've heard a lot of stories of how 9/11 widow donations were overcompensated due to how many people donated, in relation to how many widows there were, making some of them very rich millionaires. i also think a lot of embezzlement goes on, especially in regards to us sending so much money to politicians/groups to allocate to help Africa, which i think a lot of it doesn't, and lines peoples pockets.

the one thing the guy from Ghana ALWAYS reinforces to me about Africa, and most countries like that(many of them go to other countries to work) is its ALL ABOUT MONEY. everyone is a crook, everyone asks for handouts, and money is the way of life. basically its normal there to give cops money to get off whatever they pulled you over for. its common knowledge thats how it works, and that people with money can get away with anything. there is tons of corruption over there, and he said thats one of the best things about the U.S. is everyone is held more accountable here.

i'm sure its more the somewhat impoverished/underdeveloped nations, but i think we're very naive in how quick we are to spend and help, and assume our donations are going towards helping those people/countries, much less a lot of other fad charities.

really appreciate the responses so far, thank you guys.

[QUOTE=KINGS2002CHAMPS]If you exclude Egypt, FAR more money has been donated to Israel than the rest of Africa.[/QUOTE]
Israel isn't a part of Africa...

I say we stop giving any money to Ghana if are; judging by their football team, they are ungrateful bastards and they're totally allocating the money we give them in horrendous and idiotic ways!




:applause: me

[QUOTE=Snoop_Cat]I say we stop giving any money to Ghana if are; judging by their football team, they are ungrateful bastards and they're totally allocating the money we give them in horrendous and idiotic ways!




:applause: me[/QUOTE]
:applause: for such stupidity.

[QUOTE=ThemBombs]Israel isn't a part of Africa...[/QUOTE]
That's not what he meant. He clearly meant Afric - Egypt. What's wrong with ISH?

when people say 'corruption is the biggest problem in the world today and something we need to crack down on' Africa is the best example you can give.

too much of the money goes back into the politician's pockets. too much of the food aid goes to the armies. civil wars. failing infrastructure. no management. no planning. etc...

all a result of corruption.

most post 9/11 aid schemes are incentive laden (including the recent G20 one). if African countries fail to achieve certain benchmarks, the funding stops.

this is the only way to curb this problem.

that and the old adage about teaching a man to fish instead of giving him a fish.

[QUOTE=KINGS2002CHAMPS]If you exclude Egypt, FAR more money has been donated to Israel than the rest of Africa.[/QUOTE]



Ban

[QUOTE=Tito Beasley]. At the time just 50,000 Africans were on anti-retroviral drugs.

Since then the US has pumped $18bn (

Most of the money goes to aid and preventing millions of people from starving or dieing of thirst or diseases that are easily treatable. As others have said the government in most areas is messed up and there are multiple conflicts between multiple factions that are ongoing. All that needs sorting out before you see any real change there but the money makes a difference to the locals who need it to survive.

Their government officials got richer

Corruption ahoy!

overpopulation is africa

Africa is really not that bad as its reputation. Yes, there are still backwater villages with starving kids but they have those in America and Europe too.


All the aid, I think it is wrong. It is better to teach a man to fish then to keep throwing a man free fish. That is the problem with most aide sent to Africa.

[QUOTE=KINGS2002CHAMPS]If you exclude Egypt, FAR more money has been donated to Israel than the rest of Africa.[/QUOTE]
Its not the US taxpayers obligation to for their money to be donated to Africans.

I would not care if there weren't hundreds of them streaming into my country every month.

But they are.

They bring diseases, fanaticism, steal our money, steal the places in schools for our children and most importanly bring absolutely nothing positive in return.

So f*ck them, seal the continent off and let the nature work its wonders.

And EU instead calls it a shame when a prehistoric ships of those idiots sinks in the Medditerranean Sea when they try to cross it.

F*ck multiculturalism.

[QUOTE=KyleKong]Here comes my one long rant on ISH...

In High School, from Freshmen year until my Sophomore year of college, (a year ago), I was an avid volunteer of Invisible Children. I was the leader in my High School with doing volunteer work with other people because I actually believed we could make a difference by raising money.

Turns out, that obviously that had done nothing for the crisis in Uganda, children are still getting kidnapped from their home, the governments (which I blinded ignored) were still slaughtering and imprisoning countless people just like the "freedom fighters" that the World believed were the only villains in Africa.

So, I looked towards the Peace Core about a year ago, I just wanted to go out there and make a difference, even if was one child that I changed his life for, I wanted to just do something. My friends brother who just returned from the Peace Core in Kenya told me that it was the saddest waste of time, he claimed that even though they feed, educate, and enhance the lives of poverty stricken Africans, the second they leave, either rebel forces or corrupt politicians suck the life out of the work they do.

Africa, or at least most of it, is a lost cause, as sicken as it for me to say. I am a religious person, and the one thing I hate the most is that when Agnostics/Atheists say is, "If God loved everyone, look at Africa." God created man kind and gave them free will, so the doing of African evils have been created by men, not God. The only way that that entire Continent will resolve its crisis is military intervention, not from the U.S., but the entire U.N. They need to overthrow every dictator and warlord, than educate the citizens of each country. They need to feed them and give them medicine.

Now, will the U.N. or the entire World ever do this? No, they will never. Why? Because there is no profitable reason that any country would do this. They let private contracts protect the luxuries of Diamonds, rubber, ivory, etc. because they have no involvement in the country itself, just its luxuries that the rest of the World holds so deep.

It's sad.[/QUOTE]

Anybody asking you "If God loved everyone, look at Africa." is an idiot first off and isn't able to comprehend an educated person's intertwining of God and humanity. Just establishing that. That type of question should be laughed at and not thought about for a second.

Nothing we do outside of what you suggest... which is more or less invading them, getting rid of all the corrupt leaders and rebel factions, staying there for multiple generations, and setting up systems that become a part of life for them... nothing of real value can be done. And like you say, that will NEVER happen. Where's the profit? How would that many people be mobilized for that particular cause? I am more interested in playing video games than helping humanity... and a lot of other people are too. Dude it's pointless. To really make a difference, you have to be a BAD dude... I mean just a freakin pit bull demanding that stuff be done. Having good intentions will get nothing done long term. I am not telling people don't do what you can to help. If it makes them feel good then go for it... just realize the bigger picture. Learn about humanity first then see if you still want to make a difference.

[QUOTE=Trollsmasher]I would not care if there weren't hundreds of them streaming into my country every month.

But they are.

They bring diseases, fanaticism, steal our money, steal the places in schools for our children and most importanly bring absolutely nothing positive in return.

So f*ck them, seal the continent off and let the nature work its wonders.

And EU instead calls it a shame when a prehistoric ships of those idiots sinks in the Medditerranean Sea when they try to cross it.

F*ck multiculturalism.[/QUOTE]
[B]
all true, and no sane person can deny it [/B]

[QUOTE=Trollsmasher]I would not care if there weren't hundreds of them streaming into my country every month.

But they are.

They bring diseases, fanaticism, steal our money, steal the places in schools for our children and most importanly bring absolutely nothing positive in return.

So f*ck them, seal the continent off and let the nature work its wonders.

And EU instead calls it a shame when a prehistoric ships of those idiots sinks in the Medditerranean Sea when they try to cross it.

F*ck multiculturalism.[/QUOTE]
But it was cool when europeans took all of africas resources and didn't give them anything in return.