Africa aid has been wasted and created army of beggars, says Mandelson

I don't really know much about Mr Mandelson, but at least he's had the cojones to speak out about the endless aid and waste of money going to Africa! Give the man a Nobel Prize - it took him till after leaving his government office to make such a comment. I guess he liked his job too much to open his mouth and speak sense. If only people IN government would actually do their jobs of spending tax-payers money sensibly - but governments thrive on spending money they haven't earned the hard way. When will the world learn that throwing money at a problem has never been the solution - especially in Africa, where the dictators get to live like kings whilst their minions live in abject poverty. The UK is having serious financial problems, yet they have chosen to increase their foreign aid - yeah, makes sense. Stick it to your citizens and make third-world dictators rich! Bunch of idiots.

Most of the aid sent to Africa in the past half century has been wasted and has turned the region’s countries into ‘professional beggars’, according to Peter Mandelson.


The former Cabinet minister gave one of the harshest assessments yet of successive governments’ aid policies, warning that Britain had failed to help African economies grow.

Lord Mandelson, a former business secretary, insisted that the money should have been poured into trade rather than handouts.

The Labour peer told The Times Summit on Africa in London: ‘Most of the aid we have sent to Africa over the last five decades has probably, in the main, been wasted as far as growth is concerned.

‘I’m not anti-aid, but if you ask me where I would put my money, it would go on trade rather than aid as a key to African economic development.’

His extraordinary intervention comes as many on the Tory backbenches are questioning the wisdom of the Coalition’s policy to ringfence overseas aid while making cutbacks elsewhere.

Lord Mandelson, who is also a former EU trade commissioner, then said that the elimination of subsidies and opening up Europe’s markets was key to helping Africa.

‘Far too much EU trade policy since decolonisation has interpreted our responsibilities in Europe as shielding these economies from economic change rather than in a progressive way opening up these economies,’ he said.

This has marooned many African economies, demeaning many African governments by turning them into professional aid beggars.


‘Protectionist economies are great sources of corruption.’

But as trade commissioner, Lord Mandelson proposed a blanket duty on all leather shoes from former struggling economies such as China and Vietnam.

This was to protect manufacturers in rich, European countries. It was also under Lord Mandelson’s watch that the Doha trade talks failed, after five years of negotiations between the West and developing countries.


Malcolm Bruce, the chairman of the International Development Committee, said Lord Mandelson’s remarks were an ‘appalling admission of failure’.


Mr Bruce said: ‘He was in government and in the EU for 13 years. What was he doing?

‘He spent too much time plotting rather than trying to reform aid policy.’

Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley, said he backed Lord Mandelson’s view that trade, not aid, was key to fighting poverty.

But he added: ‘It is rather depressing that Lord Mandelson has only had a dose of commonsense once he left office and it was too late for him to do anything.’

The Government has promised to ringfence spending on aid policy. It is one of only two departments to have its entire budget protected – alongside health.

While other areas face the full brunt of the government spending axe, the aid budget for the Department for International Development alone has risen by 37 per cent in real terms.

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