PROJECT DEVELOPMENT ARTICLE 

7th January 2022

Share This Article

Problem Identifications: Impact of Foreign aid on sub-Saharan African Development

 By David Okereke

Introduction 

Development issues have been a critical focus of most Sub-Saharan African socio-economic development trajectories in the past five decades. Despite vigorous and numerous supports from developed countries and substantial foreign aid towards a solution to the crippling development crisis, real development has remained elusive as foreign aid has failed to produce the desired positive results in most African nations.

The UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) report on human development (HDR) shows that despite unprecedented progress against poverty, hunger, and disease, many sub-Saharan African countries are not functioning as expected. Sadly, most of the Sub-Saharan African countries were ranked under the ‘low human development’ category (HDI Report 2019).  Hence, Sub-Saharan Africa has remained the least developed region in the world and home to the most distressed nations in the world. As a result of this deep crisis, there has been a clamor for a re-think of the policies and programs initiated through foreign aid and external cooperation (Omideyi, 2007). Therefore, this paper examines some of the external influences of underdevelopment in the region using the PESTLE analysis to understand new strategies for development.

Effects of the Development Challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite concerted efforts towards African growth in terms of trade liberalization policies, economic and political strategies specifically designed to bring sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty through foreign aid, the region has remained the least developed of the world (Conchesta, 2008). Moyo (2009) argues that foreign aid does more harm than it does good, and that developing nations need free trade rather than free handouts to overcome poverty. Therefore, sub-Saharan Africa development trajectories cannot be tackled with a half-hearted commitment or faltering support towards her development goals. As a result, world leaders in an effort to provide solutions to the prolonged issues of poverty at the national level, re-conceptualizes reducing extreme poverty into sustainable development goals (SDGs). To achieve the first goal, the Open Working Group (OWG) of member states came up with a plausible phase that includes an agreement to eliminate extreme poverty within the global space by 2030 (SDG Report, 2020). 

The United Nations report (2019) highlights that as of 2018, projected data illustrates that the world is far behind in achieving her stated goal of purging extreme poverty by 2030. Considering the impact of COVID19 to the global economy in terms of financial deficits, and overutilization of the scarce resources to combat the pandemic, a lot of sub-Saharan Africa countries may not be able to meet up with their national goals towards the SDGs. Hence, it has become clearer that the world is no longer on track to achieve her target of ending extreme poverty by 2030 (The United Nations report, 2019). Easterly (2014) argues that one of the fundamental drawbacks of foreign aid and development assistance is that it has not been effectively designed to be successful in the real sense of development, and not that it cannot be successful as a development strategy. Consequently, the issues with foreign aid and development assistance failing to produce some positive outcomes in Sub- Saharan African, is not because the funds provided are insufficient to trigger or encourage development in these countries that would result in a poverty reduction and a significant rise in per capita income of the people living in these countries. Hence, Sub-Saharan Africa’s desire for development must be an alternate development that involves a considerable mobilization of resources (human and material) to bring about positive changes to all human facets.

Analysis of the Underlying Problems 

There are several methods of analysis to draw out the underlying problems that prevent poverty eradication in sub-Saharan African. However, this paper focuses on the external influence that underlies issues of foreign aid towards sub-Saharan African development. Hence, PESTLE analysis would be applicable in this study, as it primarily examines the external conditions of potential influences to development (Chaharbaghi, et al., 2005), and in practice, it assesses the connection between contingencies of expected outcomes (Collins, 2010). Thus, effective use of PESTLE analysis would help development practitioners to reflect upon new strategies on potential influences of external conditions in their development work. 

Table 1: Sub-Saharan African Poverty PESTLE Analysis on Micro- Finance Lending on Empowerment Programs

PoliticalPolitical instability – lack of democracy and a short term in office tenure would result in ineffective policy implementation and strategy.    Corruption and foreign aid implementation – issues with inadequate market policies, high level of corruption by government officials and unethical regulations towards program implementation
EconomicLack of steady economic indicators – unstable market with high interest rate and inflation.    Unemployment – ineffective educational system with high demand for mobility at the cost of cheap labor.
SocialCultural barriers – complexity of cultural norms as a result of factors relating with rural women in business, and other gender inequalities.   Rural -Urban gap – high level of concentration resources in the urban cities leads to high rural poverty rate, and low opportunities to trade.
TechnologyLack of technical training and innovation – the negative impact of inadequate knowledge in advancement of technology in terms of means of production and storage facilities. Inability to properly disseminate technology.   Technological incentive – Improper application of incentive to encourage and support community groups to growth. Quality training and technology information sharing.
LegalBilateral agreements – unfair bilateral agreements, and in the disbursement of foreign aid towards development programs.    Property rights – The strength of property rights and enforcement of contracts. Many issues of bureaucratic bottleneck and inefficiencies in regulations.
EnvironmentClimate change – change in climate conditions could lead to the high cost of implementing development programs.    Local effect – traditional views of environmental symbolism and unstable local conditions.

The PESTLE analysis identifies the overall impact of how the external environment influences program objectives. In the context of women empowerment programs, political, technology, and environmental factors are the most critical analysis of PESTLE that would help to understand some of the challenges that sub-Saharan Africa countries faced in development programs. Thus, issues relating to property rights, democracy, and corruption have been argued to be very instrumental in explaining the underdevelopment gap in developing countries. Hernando De Soto (2002) presented an all-encompassing argument on the extension of property rights, and how the poor are disproportionately unable to leverage assets, unable to get a loan because property rights are unstable (De Soto, 2000).

Democracy is another important institution that has been used to examine the causes of sub-Saharan Africa underdevelopment. The assumptive argument is that democratic institutions expedite development through policy continuity and market stabilization. Accordingly, Halperin, et al. (2005) argues that democratic states outpace others on the most social and economic indicators and that advocating for democracy should be given extensive priority for economic development, especially in developing countries. 

Corruption is a potential explanation for the causes of underdevelopment in most countries. It involves the deliberate diversion of public revenue and spending towards a private purpose. Moyo (2009) argues about the impact of corruption by African leaders on the continuous underdevelopment of the continent. She described it as an endemic that cuts across all public contracts. This further supports Graf Lambsdorff’s (2007) analysis, which found a country has a significant rise in their corruption indicator and a 4 – percent increase in the gross domestic product. Moyo (2009) summarizes that the degree of perversion and ambiguity in most African countries has resulted in a low level of motivation for people to engage in a new trade. Accordingly, Acemoglu et al. (2005) posit that ineffective organizations are the fundamental causes in the pronounced disparity of the economic development in sub-Saharan African countries.

Problem Identification

This paper focuses on the impact of empowerment programs on community groups, especially to rural women. It conceptualizes the use of foreign aid as any form of international development assistance, grants, and official debt forgiveness. This measure is relative to the standard used by other scholars in analyzing foreign aid (Chong et al. 2009).  As mentioned in the previous section, the technology factor is critical to sub-Saharan development due to the advancement in global markets. Thus, it identifies technological innovation as a problem that affects underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa. 

The information communication technology (ICT) curve in most African countries has been slow in comparison to the global scale. Some of the challenges include a lack of adequate training and awareness towards the application of advanced technology in the means of production and storage facilities. Also, few studies have argued that African countries adapt to new ideas that challenge their cultural perspectives. In context, during the introduction of mobile money platforms, a lot of Africans avoid transactions online because of fear of relative fear of the new process and general concern about safety (Bangens & Soderberg, 2011). One way to optimize these shortfalls is to develop training modules that will engage participants on the impact of technology in enhancing business opportunities within their community and provide progressive incentives that would encourage participation.

Conclusion 

According to the World Bank (2019), some of the consequences of poverty result in a lack of sustainable resources necessary for improved livelihood, hunger, and a lack of basic health provision, increased mortality rate, homelessness, and environmental dysfunction. Also, numerous studies have pointed out the shortcomings of inappropriate use of aid and technical assistance in Africa (Apter 1965; and Riddell, 2008). There is a need to re-evaluate the effectiveness and policies associated with the implementation of aid and development assistance. For development programs to be more successful, members of the community should be encouraged to participate in most of the projects designed for their community. Finally, this paper argues that PESTLE analysis helps to examine the external influences, and to understand critical issues that confront developing agencies from implementing effective developmental programs that would help in poverty reduction strategies, tailored to achieve the short-term goal of SDGs, and getting back on the track towards the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030. 

References

Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. A. (2005). Institutions as a fundamental cause of long-run growth. Handbook of economic growth, 1, 385-472.

Apter, D. (1965). The Politics of Modernization (Chicago and London.

Bangens, L., & Soderberg, B. (2011). Mobile money transfers and usage among micro-and small businesses in Tanzania. Retrieved from: http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wpcontent/uploads/2012/06/sme_and_mmt_final_draft.pdf

Chaharbaghi, K., Adcroft, A., Willis, R., & Walsh, P. R. (2005). Dealing with the uncertainties of environmental change by adding scenario planning to the strategy reformulation equation. Management Decision.

Chong, A., Gradstein, M., & Calderon, C. (2009). Can foreign aid reduce income inequality and poverty?. Public choice, 140(1-2), 59-84.

Collins, R. (2010). A graphical method for exploring the business environment. Henley Business School. Version, 8.

Conchesta, K. (2008). Foreign aid and economic growth: the case of Tanzania. Institute of social studies.

De Soto, H. (2000). The mystery of capital: Why capitalism triumphs in the West and fails everywhere else. Civitas Books.

Easterly, W. (2014). The tyranny of experts: Economists, dictators, and the forgotten rights of the poor. Basic Books.

Halperin, M. Joseph T. Siegle and Michael Weinstein. 2005. The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace.

Lambsdorff, J. G. (2007). The institutional economics of corruption and reform: Theory, evidence and policy. Cambridge university press.

Moyo, D. (2009). Dead aid: Why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa. Macmillan.

Omideyi, A. K. (2007). Poverty and development in Nigeria: trailing the MDGs?. African Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1(1), 3-17.

Riddell, R. (2008). Does foreign aid really work?. Oxford University Press.

SDG (2020). The Sustainable Development Goals Report of 2020. Retrieved from: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/

UNDP (2019). Human Development Index (HDI) Report of 2019. Retrieved from: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr15-report-en-1.pdf

United Nations (2019). United Nations Statistics Division Report of 2019. Retrieved from: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-01/

Share This Article

Related Post…

Written by acclaim nigeria

35 Comments

  1. RispSoifs

    We also found a website for New Hampshire Open MRI, which prices MRI s starting at 799, while the New Hampshire website shows lower back prices from 1, 270 to 4, 531 <a href=[Link deleted]viagra cialis online 1999 Jan; 161 1 112 6

    Reply
  2. Sogethelt

    <a href=[Link deleted]cialis usa At the end of the study period in 2012, the status of index patients was verified through the Swedish Cancer Registry, and updated when appropriate

    Reply
  3. cloulse

    <a href=[Link deleted]stromectol online Sydney Morning Herald

    Reply
  4. Inquins

    alendronate Fosamax risedronate Actonel ibandronate Boniva zoledronate Zometa, Reclast <a href=[Link deleted]for pinworms The maximum number of rollovers since 2009, when Florida joined the Powerball game, was 15

    Reply
  5. Elanurl

    <a href=[Link deleted]online overnight Affiliations College of Medicine, The School of Chinese Medicine for Post Baccalaureate, I Shou University Yancho Campus, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Department of Chinese Medicine, E DA Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Reply
  6. unokirm

    Step 1, 2, and 3 were applied on the training data set <a href=[Link deleted]for fluid in lungs In 2005 her connections put her in touch with Barack Obama, then a promising freshman senator

    Reply
  7. zmozero teriloren

    I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Great work!

    Reply
  8. Axokescox

    <a href=[Link deleted]boys shrimp shack SOURCES Sirieix J et al

    Reply
  9. Annette Marchione

    It’s very easy to find out any matter on net as compared to books, as I found this post at this web page.|

    Reply
  10. Vinnie Picard

    I constantly spent my half an hour to read this web site’s articles every day along with a mug of coffee.|

    Reply
  11. Vern Espana

    Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.|

    Reply
  12. Gerald Grisson

    It is the best time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some interesting things or advice. Maybe you can write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read more things about it!|

    Reply
  13. Santo Ure

    Wow, awesome blog format! How long have you ever been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The whole look of your website is excellent, as well as the content material!

    Reply
  14. appolijaf

    Ask about the sources of encouragement to use drugs or supplements friends, parents, coach, trainer, doctor, teammate, television magazine internet ads <a href=[Link deleted]clomid via mail J Bone Miner Metab

    Reply
  15. Aidepay

    <a href=[Link deleted]es efectivo There, I was told to hop up on a bed, put on the shower cap, and wait to meet my anesthesiologist

    Reply
  16. 10 Ways to Make a Cocktail using Smirnoff Kissed Caramel

    I discovered your weblog site on google and test a couple of of your early posts. Proceed to keep up the excellent operate. I simply further up your RSS feed to my MSN Information Reader. In search of ahead to studying more from you later on!…

    Reply
  17. An Introduction to Reboot With Joe Juice Dieting

    Thanks for another fantastic post. Where else could anyone get that type of information in such an ideal means of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I am on the search for such info.

    Reply
  18. How to Become a Lobbyist

    When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks a lot!

    Reply
  19. Inessasnpi

    creative writing english coursework
    <a href=[Link deleted]my coursework for me
    coursework moderation

    Reply
  20. Imitteram

    <a href=[Link deleted]i buy priligy over the counter This scientifically designed flap provides greater protection to the eyes in collaboration with the facial bones in the case of blunt trauma

    Reply
  21. brigree

    <a href=[Link deleted]for sale Post Myocardial Infarction 2

    Reply
  22. MimiLyday

    Therefore, even if your cornea is too thin for laser based procedures, ICL remains an option <a href=[Link deleted]without a prescription 1988, 51 778 784

    Reply
  23. enfopenly

    2016 Dec; 43 4 233 239 <a href=[Link deleted]propecia uk zoloft cheap viagra nhs But when there are a few doubts, we need to show we have a bit of character and fight

    Reply
  24. brigree

    <a href=[Link deleted]30mg To minimize late referrals, practitioners should recognize the clinical clues Table 1 that help identify patients with advanced HF and expedite referral to an advanced HF center

    Reply
  25. Clainee

    <a href=[Link deleted]clomid and nolvadex dosage It kind of scares me to increase my testosterone so much since it puts you at an increase for prostate cancer

    Reply
  26. Beeseeves

    5 mg precio Among those suing Armstrong are insurance companies that paid him bonuses and people who bought the books Armstrong published <a href=[Link deleted]

    Reply
  27. fearlenny

    fluoxetine will increase the level or effect of valbenazine by affecting hepatic enzyme CYP2D6 metabolism <a href=[Link deleted]clomid via mail

    Reply
  28. crydrap

    Dr Andrew Seidman examines the impact of overall survival, time to chemotherapy, and quality of life data for KISQALI in postmenopausal patients <a href=[Link deleted]generic cialis available

    Reply
  29. StootTumn

    Loss of AR signaling in Sertoli cells, as seen in the SCARKO mice, results in pachytene spermatocytes arrest De Gendt et al <a href=[Link deleted]zithromax A comprehensive literature review and discussion of hemorrhagic cholecystitis will be provided

    Reply
  30. mass token

    Please let me know if you’re looking for a article author for your weblog. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an email if interested. Thank you!

    Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. 3container - 2gateway
  2. coursework help - coursework planner [Link deleted]
  3. coursework writing uk - design technology coursework [Link deleted]
  4. coursework sample of written work - design coursework [Link deleted]
  5. coursework support - coursework service [Link deleted]
  6. coursework writing help - coursework samples [Link deleted]
  7. date game online - free se4x [Link deleted]
  8. danting site - online free dating sites [Link deleted]
  9. local single women near me - dating flirt site free [Link deleted]
  10. bbw dating - sexy dating [Link deleted]
  11. adult online dating - dating web [Link deleted]
  12. meet woman - absolutely free personals [Link deleted]
  13. best dating website in usa - online dating sites for free 100% [Link deleted]
  14. best dating websites free - mature woman dating pictures [Link deleted]
  15. free meeting online - matchmaking dating [Link deleted]
  16. top dating online sites - meetme dating site [Link deleted]

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like…

Share This