You Have No Business Depending On Aid For Survival – Moghalu To African Countries

President of the African School of Governance, Kingsley Moghalu, has stated that African countries must leverage Public Private Partnership (PPP) investments to achieve continental economic liberation and prosperity.

He insisted that African countries have no business depending on aid for survival.

The former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, stated this at the 7th annual lecture of the Association of Foreign Relations Professionals of Nigeria (AFRPN), in Abuja.

The lecture had as its theme: “Economic liberation through public-private partnership: A catalyst against neocolonialism in Africa.

Moghalu stressed that although most African countries achieved political independence from colonial powers, economic freedom had not been achieved.

He said: “You’ve got no business allowing somebody else to be doing it for you, and even if you do, you must make it a very temporary affair, like China did, like Brazil did, like Rwanda is doing. Many of those countries transitioned from receiving foreign aid to becoming foreign aid providers themselves, because the primary purpose of foreign aid is control and have political and economic leverage over weak countries.

“We give you foreign aid, we tell you how to vote at the UN, we tell you what shape your policy will follow, and sometimes we even go into social issues, like telling you who is a man and who is a woman, all because of foreign aid.”

He said this is so because national economies are still trapped in a neocolonial stranglehold, hence the need for PPPs.

“PPPs represent an innovative approach to economic transformation in the context of a market-leaning developmental state.

“The journey toward economic liberation and the dismantling of neo-colonial structures requires deliberate action.

“By embracing PPPs, strengthening institutional frameworks and investing in leadership development, we can leverage the private sector for development outcomes.

”We can also avoid debt traps and pave the way for a self-reliant and prosperous Africa,” he said.