All Articles Tagged "african aid"
Violent Crackdown Costs Malawi U.S. Aid
(Wall Street Journal) — A U.S. aid agency said Tuesday it is halting a $350 million, three-month-old energy project-financing deal with Malawi after the southeast African country’s government responded to protests with a violent crackdown that left 19 people dead. The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation said it is placing an immediate hold on the project, meant to strengthen Malawi’s electricity infrastructure, because it is “deeply concerned by recent events in Malawi,” the MCC said in a statement. Last week, 19 people were killed after police opened fire to quell looting and protests against President Bingu wa Mutharika. The thousands of protesters accuse Mr. Mutharika of mismanaging the economy, leading to acute fuel shortages, and of trampling on democratic freedoms.
Liberian President Commits to Aid-Less Future
(Christian Science Monitor) — In her six years in office, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has restored relations with the western world, rebuilt tattered infrastructure, erased the country’s external debt, and entered the race for the second term she long ago swore she’d never seek, but will likely win. Last night, with 120 days ticking before ballot boxes open in Liberia, the president set another ambitious target for her little country that could: She wants Liberia to wean itself off aid by the decade’s end. ”There’s no reason why we cannot build upon the successes of today to ensure that ten years from now, Liberia should no longer require foreign assistance,” she told a crowd of hundreds of Africa watchers in London. It’s hard to under-state the importance of that goal. An aid-recipient state since 1819 when James Monroe bankrolled its founding, Liberia has risen and fallen by the whims of donors, raking in 771 percent more aid than revenue in 2008.
