Madam, - Joe Humphreys's excellent article "Poverty and neglect take the gloss off Africa's celebrations" (March 3rd) highlights the stark contrast between the extravagance of this week's celebration in Ghana to commemorate 50 years of independence, and the abject poverty in which most of the continent is steeped.
Martin Meredith's book State of Africa, to which Humphreys refers, should be mandatory reading for all politicians. It concludes: "Far from being able to provide aid and protection to their citizens, African governments and the vampire-like politicians who run them are regarded by the populations they rule as yet another burden they have to bear in the struggle for survival."
If African countries are to make the great leap forward one burning issue needs to be addressed: the manner in which bureaucrats and officials across the continent line their pockets daily, and refuse to relinquish power.
The simple fact is that good governance does not exist in most of the continent. Moreover, Africa is not badly governed because it is poor. It is poor because it is badly governed. Good governance in all realms of public policy is needed to create sound, accountable institutions that can absorb and use aid effectively.
Those who give aid are right to expect this kind of transparency and professionalism in recipient governments.
The tragedy of aid, as has been shown in numerous evaluations and by World Bank research, is that donors are part of the problem of corruption. Aid often underpins corruption, and higher aid levels tend to erode the governance structure of poor countries. Donors should be asking themselves whether their aid, rather than helping, is contributing to the decline of developing countries.
Isn't it extraordinary that this challenge has so far gone unmet by the international community, despite the much touted Western vision for Africa espoused at the G8 in 2005? - Yours, etc,
JOHN O'SHEA, Goal, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.