Dutch development aid doesn’t reach the very poorest

from Radio Netherlands

by Pieternel Gruppen

Dutch policy towards Africa in recent years has not given sufficient attention to helping the very poorest. That's one of the conclusions of an official review of Dutch aid to Africa. Yet the battle against poverty is a central element of Dutch policy. One of the reasons for this apparent paradox is the policy of giving money to governments instead of specific aid projects.

The Netherlands gave almost six billion euros to Africa between 1998 and 2006. But that money didn't always go to help those in the most desperate need, concludes the Inspectorate (IOB) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For example, in this period about one billion euros - a sixth of the budget for Africa - was cancelled from the debts of such countries as Congo and Nigeria.

Dutch business
Frans Bieckmann, Editor-in-Chief of The Broker, a magazine about development cooperation, finds this a nasty business.

"It's a very complicated story, but what it comes down to is that a billion euros have been used for the financing of exports from Dutch business. And the big question is whether the poorest have received any benefits. I doubt that very much, especially if it's countries like Nigeria and Congo."

In some African countries, debts exist because the importers couldn't pay the bills for Dutch products. The debts should really be paid by the Minister of Finance and not through development cooperation, deems the Inspectorate.

Budget support
A further question is how far the poor have profited from the radical changes that have been made to Dutch aid for Africa in recent years. For example, the Netherlands has introduced a system of general budget support. Governments that fulfil certain conditions can get a sack of money that can be spent according to their own wishes. The idea is to give them more say in the aid.

In principle, budget support is a great instrument for the fight against poverty, thinks Paul Hoebink, a development specialist at the University of Nijmegen. But if it's given to the wrong countries, the poor don't get sufficient benefits:

"If you give this sort of support, you have to be sure the country is well governed. There are examples of countries where this clearly isn't the case. For example, Uganda received budget support while the country was carrying out raids into Congo. Human rights were also abused. Those sorts of things should be reason enough to give those countries less."

Without vision
Unsteady, without vision. That's how Hoebink describes the Africa policy of recent years. But what does he think needs to change in the future?

"We must develop a policy on poverty. We don't have an official definition of poverty. We don't know how to reach the poorest. We think that can only be done by pouring money into healthcare and primary education. But, yes, that's too limited."