Is aid the solution to European Migrant crisis?

A two-day Summit of African and European heads of state and government ended in Malta recently. European nations pledged about two billion euros to tackle the migration crisis. The money will among other things, be used to create jobs for deported Africans.

The aid package has been received with mixed feelings. Some African leaders, among them President Macky Sall of Senegal, complained that the amount is barely enough for the whole continent.

Other leaders said it was an important first step. President of the European Council, Donald Task, said the EU was “under no illusions that we can improve the situation overnight, but we are committed to giving people alternatives to risking their lives.”

As governments step up to their moral obligation to resolve the crisis, is aid really the solution?

A recent World Bank report shows that although the share of Africans who are poor fell from 56 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2012, there were more than twice as many extremely poor in sub-Saharan Africa (441 million) than there were in 1990 (205 million).

Although the increase is mainly attributed to the unabated population growth on the continent, Africans continue to survive on less than two dollars a day. Many people can barely afford the basic necessities-food, water, shelter. There is poor access to health and education facilities.

HIV and Aids continues to put an unbearable strain, especially in the rural areas where labour remains the primary income earning asset.

In essence, the situation in Africa has remained the same over the decades, despite growing Official Development Assistance (ODA). We cannot, therefore, escape from the painful but obvious truth that aid is not the solution that will permanently lift people out of poverty.

The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has often repeated that “Africa does not need charity.” Indeed, what Africa needs from Europe is not aid but investment and market access for its agricultural and non-agricultural products. It needs a fair and level playing field where it can participate in global trade as an equal partner. Aid to Africa should focus on addressing trade-related constraints. Arguably, Africa needs to deal with its own internal barriers to trade. However, removal of both tarriff and non-tariff barriers by western countries will provide incentives to African governments to remove remaining hurdles.

Agriculture remains the main source of income for many, particularly in the rural areas. A recent influential analysis shows that Africa has 600 million hectares of uncultivated land. This land, if put to use, can create thousands of jobs for people on the continent. If the US and Europe reduced subdies to their cotton farmers, for example, many African countries would benefit substantially.

Unlike crops which are grown for food, cotton is one of the most profitable cash crops for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. European countries should be recommended for some positive steps towards eliminating market distortions. However, Africa continues to export unprocessed cotton at low prices for value addition and high cost to the West. In other words, Africa exports millions of jobs which many of the migrants are following in Europe.

Both legal and illegal migration of Africans continues to have a positive impact on many economies on the continent. Adams Bodomo, a leading Ghanaian researcher based in Hong-Kong found that in 2010, Africans who left the continent sent $51.4 billion to their respective countries.

World Bank figures for ODA for the same year showed that Africa received $43 billion. The Summit in Malta recommended the need to co-operate in legal migration and mobility, a move which is certainly welcome.

However, any formal migration program should not deplete capacity in the public service. Africa is already suffering from brain drain. Doctors, nurses, engineers and other skilled people have left for greener pastures, leaving the continent without intellectual capital.

Another study worth noting was conducted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa in 2010 which found that every year, close to $50 billion flows out of Africa illegally. This is double the amount Africa receives in ODI.

According to the report, the impact this has had on the continent is monemental and requires G-20 countries to exercise greater transparency and tighter oversight of bank and financial institutions that facilitate such flows. This is a task that if taken seriously, will prevent Africa from being a “net creditor to the rest of the world.”

It is an undeniable fact that many Africans are risking their lives, traveling to Europe to escape from poverty. This is the same poverty that aid has failed to resolve for decades. No country in the world has developed through charity. Indeed, the Marshall Plan which helped to build Western Europe after the Second World War focused largely on building industry and promoting trade. Europe and other Western countries need to face the brutal fact that Africa needs trade and investment, and not aid.

Europe needs to assist Africa in curbing illegal financial flows out of the continent. If migration is an existential threat to Europe, Africa needs an effort of same magnitude as the Marshall Plan.

*Jane Ngineriwa Kambalame is studying for a joint Executive Masters in Public Administration (Global Policy and Management) at New York University and University College London. For feedback, e-mail jkambalame.jk@gmail.com