Foreign remittance of earnings by immigrants to their loved ones and families back home in Africa is the only way that aid gets to the people that need it most. While, foreign aid mostly goes into the hands of corrupt government officials and bureaucrats who just end up siphoning the money away into their own pockets.
About $40 Billion dollars is sent home from the USA each year by immigrants to family and friends all over the world. These monies are extremely useful and make up some part of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for most developing countries. For some families in developing countries in Africa, South America, Eastern Europe and Asia these monies are all they receive and have come to depend on. Without it, they will just perish as there are little or no other opportunities to earn a living.
For the last several years, developed nations and charities have given billions of dollars to help struggling developing nations all over the world particularly in Africa to help alleviate the sufferings of poverty. However, Africa still remains poorer than it was before all the aid came in. Why is that, some might ask? The truth lies in the very simple principle that is best illustrated by the simple proverb which goes something like this:
“Give a person a fish and they will come back tomorrow for more however, teach them how to fish and they will not need your help anymore”
Ironically, with foreign aid the fish never even gets to the people in Africa that need the fish not to talk about empowering them to learn skills and trades that will allow them to fish by them selves. Whereas, when people send remittance home they not only send cash but they also send goods and items that their love ones back home could sell or use to start a business. For example, most Nigerians overseas send used cars and appliances back to love ones to sell and that way they are able to keep loved ones occupied in some sort of trading activity (employment). While also providing the financial support that is so very much needed. So the next time you think about donating money to a charity think about giving to one that teaches the people how to fish, such as Helping Feet.
Note, remittance also has to do with the transfer of knowledge, technology and even organizations back to developing countries in Africa by African immigrants in the Diaspora. Take for example, what happened in India, where most of the Indians that were trained and educated in the USA ended up working in IT and software companies locally in the USA before taking their knowledge back home to setup what we all now know as “Information Technology (IT) Outsourcing Industry”.
The same thing was done by the Chinese with manufacturing. They essentially exported whole companies and technologies back home to China where they could take advantage of the lower cost of labor. They were able to learn business practices, the strengths and weaknesses of the western world and then leverage this knowledge back home to improve their local economies. Africans can do the same too and simply reapply some of the successful strategies the Asians have used to improve the plight of Africa.
Enough with the talking and discussions, it is time for action. Stop foreign aid but instead repatriate your foreign knowledge.
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