Friday, July 21, 2006

Gates to give more to Africa

Yeah, maybe I am still being biased by my reading of Jeff Sach's Ending Poverty. Or maybe it was the stories my brother (the real doctor) brought back from his service trip to Ghana. Ormy Mom's campaogn to collect and send t-shirts and money to an orphanage in Ghana. Or maybe it just seems right, but whatever the reason I agree with the Cameron Cameron Duodu of the New African (although this appears in the Guardian) that the Gates (and Buffetts) deserve priase and not criticism for giiving of money to aid African nations.

From the article:
"The pioneering role being played by Bill and Melinda Gates in applying wealth to the solution of some of the problems associated with poverty and disease, need to be supported by all people of goodwill, because quite often, their efforts are derided as an attempt to "throw money" at the problems of Africa. That is nonsense, of course, because you cannot cure tuberculosis without buying drugs, nor can you prevent diarrhoea from attacking children if you do not buy stuff that can purify the water they drink. And buying can only be done with money.

There is nothing more annoying than seeing someone who takes the availability of potable, safe water 24/7 for granted in some leafy suburb in Europe or America waxing eloquent about the wastefulness of aid. Yes, regrettably, some aid can be wasted."
Not sure where the finance/economics line is, but this is probably on the Economics side, but that is ok, class is not in session right now ;).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great post - I was having a debate with someone about the same - do you recall when Larry Ellison was being derided for giving money to Ivy League insitutions for developing methods in which to dispense aid properly?

I thought it was brilliant - figuring out ways to get the best return on your investment should never be derided, especially when many more people can be helped as a result of improved efficiency.