Where the aid goes

This blog was actively maintained from 2003-2017. These posts remain here for reference, but some of the content will now be out of date.

According to Jeff Sachs in this week’s Time Magazine:

Aid per sub-Saharan African in 2002 was just $30. Of that modest amount, almost $5 was actually for consultants from the donor countries, more than $3 was for emergency aid, about $4 went for servicing Africa’s debts, and $5 was for debt relief operations. The rest, about $12, went to Africa.

Sachs goes on to say that the US gave about $3 per sub-Saharan African. Taking out the parts for US consultants and technical cooperation, food and other emergency aid, administrative costs and debt relief, the aid per African came to the grand total of perhaps 6 cents.