WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As British Prime Minister I trebled aid to Africa. At the 2005 G8 summit we took far-reaching steps in debt cancellation worth more than $100 billion to the poorest African nations. I am immensely proud of what we achieved at Gleneagles: Every day since, the aid given to developing countries has been saving thousands of lives. But I came to recognize that aid alone is not the answer.
The truth is that ultimately Africa's future prosperity lies with the decisions of Africa's leaders. We need leadership that is democratic, accountable and transparent. But in addition, we need leadership that is effective, that can shape plans and deliver policies that will make a difference on the ground.
The problem for many African countries is not the absence of the right vision or the right intentions. It is the simple lack of capacity to achieve them. Government today, even in the West, has often far less to do with ideology, but to do with delivery. The techniques for this are not that different from the private sector -- the right mix of focus; prioritization; capable people and machinery to deliver; performance management and innovative ideas.
This is hard enough for developed nations. It is a vast challenge for African leaders, whose governments very often lack the most basic levers of delivery, the expertise and the know-how.
In the last three years, the charity I set up, the Africa Governance Initiative, has focused on these issues. We bring in dedicated teams of international staff who have worked in government or for leading private sector organizations. They work alongside the leader's office and key government ministries, building capacity to prioritize and get things done. Because the only long-term route out of poverty is economic growth, we make a big thing of helping the governments we work with to attract quality private-sector investment to create jobs and livelihoods. Our staff -- with expertise gained working in the international financial sector -- sit alongside the government and coach them to bargain on equal terms with big multinationals.
Over the past three years, we have been working in three countries -- Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia. In each case, of course, the prime movers are the leaders and their teams. And in each country the results are both deeply impressive and offer real hope for the future. Rwanda was the fastest riser in the World Bank place to do business rankings last year. Sierra Leone has seen Freetown with the lights on, and a 90 percent cut in deaths of children from malaria. Liberia has seen astonishing progress, not least in attracting major private investment, with $16 billion committed in the past four years.
This is all part of the change now happening in Africa. There is still a long way to go. But the feeling of optimism is palpable.
For its part, the international development community needs to find new ways to support, not just exhort, leaders in Africa to do the right thing. The democracy and accountability revolution that has swept across Africa over the last 20 years has done immeasurable good. No leader deserves a blank check. But it is not enough for us to just say that Africa needs more Mandelas and fewer Mobutus.
Instead, the goal must be to create a dynamic where current African leaders can deliver real improvements in the lives of their citizens and where the next generation of leaders -- in some countries the first to grow up under stable, democratic rule -- have models of true public service they can aspire to follow.
What these leaders need is practical support in articulating and delivering on their priorities, so that the donors can align their assistance behind them. That is how we give real substance, not just symbolism, to the idea of "country ownership." Here, the World Bank, USAID and others have been breaking new ground in making the new partnership with Africa, which Barack Obama articulated on his visit to Ghana, a reality.
The development community already invests a great deal in keeping Africa's leaders honest. The question is whether it invests enough in supporting them to succeed. Good leadership is about capacity, not just character.
LIVE WEBCAST: Watch Tony Blair's keynote speech to the Center for Global Development at 10:00 a.m. EST.
Tony Blair was UK Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007, and is Patron of the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI). 'Not Just Aid: How Making Government Work Can Transform Africa' is published by the Center for Global Development.
As someone with African roots, I have seen & heard of a lot that has previously gone wrong with the West's approach to Africa post colonisation. It is now clear that propping up failing regimes with NQA aid (No Questions Asked) simply to keep countries out of one bloc or the other actually exacerbated the problem.
Proper governance is the only dignifed way for African countries to make it.
I encourage you to also campaign for trade justice, as this would free African countries to take a proper place in the world economy, & greatly reduce the need for aid.
Oh, and by the way, thanks for the Sierra Leone intervention. That was one GOOD war.
Kwaku
Travel there or speak to people who have worked in the aid communities there for a long time.
You'll get the score.
The problem is not with the agents of change. Our main problem in African is the inability to take responsibility for our own development. How many educated africans are bold enough to point out the mistakes, corruptions and abuse of power, when the perpetrated of such actions are members of the same tribes. How many people take genuine interest in the fiscal strength of african countries economies, and how many of us are willing to pay taxes for the smooth running of a country.
So before we start blaming the change agents, be bold enough to stand for your right when you go to Ghana. It had for change agent to effect change when the beneficiary/benefactor of the change is not demanding it.
It's always evil when it's another tribe, but overlooked when it isn't.
Mind you, that dynamic often works between the Right & the Left in this country... wonder how they get away with it?!
Africa is an absolute morass of corruption and inefficiency.
It will take centuries to unravel it all.
Still, it's worth trying.
Humans are complex - do you reject Lyndon Johnson or Kennedy's legacies because they both advanced civil rights & invaded/escalated Vietnam?
I consider Tony Blair to really care about Africa from his track record ON AFRICA - not on Iraq.
My views on Iraq are irrelevant to this post.
These people are who have brought America to its knees. Of course everyone's excited and "so" interested in Africa... oil will make a greedy man interested every time. How about we mind our own business for o nce and not try to "liberate" any more countries of their oil.
And it's not just oil, it's all kinds of resources.
Let's be different now.
Focus all of our foreign aid and other efforts on just one small African country like Ghana or Cameroon.
Stop thinking about Nigeria's oil or SouthAfrica's gold....just focus on making Ghana, etc the most advanced democracy bursting with health, wealth and happiness on that African continent.
That example should force the rest of Africa to follow the same path.
I like it.