Development: keep or kick? Africa's time is NOW

"Africa's time is NOW.

It is time for Africans to assume full control over their economic and political destiny. Africans should grasp the many means and opportunities available to them for improving the quality of life," argues Dambisa Moyo (left) an international economist who writes on the macroeconomy and global affairs. She is the author of critically acclaimed New York Times Bestseller Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How there is a Better Way for Africa, which details the inefficacy of development aid for poor countries.

Moyo argues Africa needs alternatives to the established donation schemes in which conditionality plays a predominant role: this includes genuine partnerships, the liberalization of markets and attracting FDI (foreign direct investment)

Non-aid dependency schemes work in South Africa and Botswana, whereas in other countries, "overreliance on aid has trapped developing nations in a vicious circle of aid dependency, corruption, market distortion, and further poverty, leaving them with nothing but the “need” for more aid," she explained.

One of East4South's participants, Veronica from Monrovia, Liberia, explained how NGO efforts are duplicated in her country and how it breeds corruption.

"At the end of the day- what is our goal?" Moyo asked. "Is it to reduce poverty and boost economic growth in Africa? If it means overhauling the current system, it’s something that has to be done. It shouldn’t just be about protecting foreigners' jobs. Moyo cited Zambia as an example of tremendous improvement in the last 5-6 years, with great decline in commodity prices, thanks to agressive policies to implement free market.

One of our Zambian journalists, Costa, was nevertheless sceptical about the progress and added that market liberalization didn't only have benefits.

Several measures have been tried out [in my country, Cameroon] and it’s not working, said Jessie Ayamoh Bawak (second from the right), from Spectrum TV. "There is the government-to-government donation problem. The government-to-individual scheme is bad too. We need good governance."

Odelia Ofori (right), a TV3 network journalist from Ghana, added that "whilst Moyo was speaking about liberalization, in Ghana, it’s been so liberalized that the Chinese market has taken over, the poultry and clothing industries have collapsed. The small (poultry) industry that was doing SO WELL. Liberalization, if not done well, will cause institution to collapse."

Irene, from Kenya, believes conditionality is more harm than aid itself. "African countries can develop well if they have the right policies. We need discussions on tax heavens, about trade justice, policy of freedom." Aid – she's something between the pessimist and the optimist. "We need to have the policies right."

Veronica (top, first from the left), from Liberia, added: "My country has the first female president in Africa. Go and see: 3.5 million debt-waver, donations from World Bank. You can’t see anything [getting better] in Liberia. We need alternatives."

These comments were collected during a Deutsche Welle East4South workshop preparing 10 European and 10 African journalists for collaborative reporting summer assignment about the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.