'Africa should be pushing for trade not aid'

Rich countries should rather open up their markets to exports SHOULD AFRICAN countries not be pushing for increased market access rather than for increased aid? That question has been raised by Niel Joubert, a researcher at the Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (tralac), following the recent decision by the G8 countries to provide US$40-billion (R268-bn) in debt relief to 18 of the world’s poorest countries – of which 14 are in Africa. However, Joubert told FTW, some commentators argued that increased aid would not necessarily lead to an increase in development. For example, he points to a study just released by the International Poverty Network (IPN). In this, Fredrik Erixon argued that in most cases aid has not led to increased economic growth. Instead aid money has ended up supporting corrupt governments with little impact on growth and development. “What Erixon suggested,” said Joubert, “was that rich countries should provide aid only to governments that are already reforming and committed to future reforms - and make such aid available for a limited period of time.” The alternative is that, instead of only focusing on increasing aid, rich countries should open up their markets to exports from developing countries. “African countries stand to gain much more from increased trade than from aid,” said Joubert.