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Tony Blair challenges international community to eliminate aid dependency within a generation

Tony Blair today set out his vision for how Africa working with the international community can eliminate aid dependence within a generation.

The Patron of the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative was speaking at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) event series on “Busan and beyond: aid effectiveness in a new era.”

“Capacity is the answer; indeed the only long term answer. It has to be built in partnership with developing countries and through systems of effective and structured decision making. Around the world the lessons are there and available.

“I spent ten years learning them and though obviously it is different in a developed country like Britain, it is remarkable how many are applicable universally: deciding priorities; getting the right policy to achieve them; execution skills to deliver them; and tracking them, at the top, to make sure it really happens. This is not an impossible hope. It could be done.

“Ending aid dependency in a generation is not an idle dream; it’s an idea whose time has come. It is a challenge to the leaders of developing nations. It is where a true partnership between developed and developing nations should take us.”

ODI Director Alison Evans, who hosted a Q&A session with Tony Blair, said afterwards:

“The forward agenda for developing countries is to reduce their dependence on aid. Part of the solution lies in the rich world sorting out the detrimental impact of its non-aid policies – including global trade rules – on these economies. But aid can also help if it supports the capability of developing countries to solve their own development problems. Such problem solving needs effective, developmental leadership and a capacity to adapt quickly to rapid global change. The forthcoming High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan offers a welcome opportunity to refocus the mind of the international community once again on the importance of country ownership, but we have also learned that without real developmental leadership, ownership is rarely achieved and the cycle of dependence continues.“

In a piece for the Huffington Post UK earlier today, Tony Blair outlined clear steps the international community can take if they are serious about ending aid dependence: “First, we need to deliver aid in a way that strengthens African governments. In Paris in 2005 the world signed up to a set of principles for how aid should work –putting aid recipient countries in the driving seat, using and thereby strengthening local systems, and with clear accountability on both sides. These were, and remain, the right principles. But they have not been delivered. A recent OECD report found that only one of the thirteen Paris targets had been met, and placed the blame largely on a lack of political will from donor countries. A first step is for the rich world to deliver on its commitment to country ownership.”

“Second, we should support African governments to develop the capacity they need to deliver for their citizens. This issue of governance, how to get things done, is the biggest single challenge I see for governments across the globe. And it is the issue I have focused on since leaving office through my charity the Africa Governance Initiative –which works alongside reforming political leaders to help them build their systems so they can implement their development plans and tackle poverty.”

“Third, growing Africa’s private sector is the only long term way to escape from poverty. African leaders have a responsibility to ensure that: they are able to attract high quality, sustainable investment; that the rules of the game are clear and adhered to; and that they work together to remove regional trade barriers. But the rich world has a role to play to play too, in opening up its markets to African companies and ensuring that global trade rules work for Africa.”

Read Tony Blair's latest article: Africa can be Free of Dependence on Aid in a Generation