Jeffrey Sachs on the World Bank and Africa
Via Dani Rodrik.
Sachs says:
And the core problem in Africa is not corruption but the lack of
basic infrastructure and services. Like all poor regions (and rich
nations like the U.S.), Africa has its corruption problems, but
they do not explain its distinctively poor economic performance.
The causes are obvious to anyone who has spent a few days in
African villages. There are almost no roads, electricity, doctors,
nurses, fertilizers, high-yield seeds, and all the other things
that constitute the first step out of extreme poverty.
If by basic infrastructure and services Sachs' also means
"institutions" then he's partially correct. Corruption is a huge
problem in Africa and it's THE major reason why "there are almost no
roads, electricity, doctors, nursues, fertilizers, high-yield seeds,
and all the other things that constitute the first step out of extreme
poverty". (If you want to read a first-hand account, check out Robert
Guest's The Shackled Continent.)
People make up institutions, or at the very least one would be able to
say that they run the institutions. If the people running the
institutions are corrupt, then you have a major problem. The money can
keep on flowing in, but if they don't get to the people who need it
the most and corrupt officials staff the institutions that are most
likely to receive the said funds, the money goes toward buying things
like presidential jets, building state-of-the-art airports, or keeping
a well-stocked liquor cabinet of the finest single-malt scotches in
the world. Moreover, even if the money reaches the people who need it
the most, then what? I certainly hope that they could purchase the
much needed supplies and contract for the services and the
construction of the basic infrastructure necessary for development.
But I doubt the corrupt officials (especially a corrupt military)
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