United States Ambassador to Zambia, Michael C. Gonzales, has highlighted America’s previous role in corruption and bad governance that stunted growth over the decades, particularly in African nations.
In an explosive article, “Breaking the Cycle of Foreign
Assistance Enabling Corruption,” published by the State Department, Gonzales
decried how the U.S. doled out funds to governments without holding them to
account.
“What is needed for economic growth and development is not
more money, but sound reforms that incentivize enduring private investment and
growth,” he asserted, noting that Africa has received over $200 billion in U.S.
aid since 1991.
The envoy cited African Union reports indicating that
countries on the continent lose an estimated $88 billion each year through tax
evasion, money laundering, and corruption.
Gonzales said that instead of insisting on mutual
accountability and using U.S. assistance to address the causes of poverty and
underdevelopment, Washington funded outputs to allay the symptoms.
That approach, he noted, failed both American taxpayers and
citizens of developing countries who looked to their governments and the U.S.
to help create the conditions for a better future.
Criticising the pampering of governments rather than
demanding performance, he said America “did not have a consistent policy as to
whether assistance was charity or a foreign policy tool.”
Gonzales added that rather than challenge administrations
that failed in their professed commitments, the U.S. excused the lack of
political will as “capacity constraints,” choosing not to “expect too much.”
The ambassador wondered why Washington did not recognise
that leaders of aid-recipient countries often prioritised personal interests at
the expense of their people and national development.
“Never did we withhold assistance funds because host
governments failed to deliver on their commitments… we responded by providing
even more aid because they have needs,” he said.
“By trying to save people from the bad governance and
corruption of their leaders, we helped perpetuate that very same corruption and
bad governance,” Gonzales declared.
The diplomat said America “fuelled moral hazard,” citing
cases ranging from the greed exposed in Malawi’s ‘Cashgate’ scandal under Joyce
Banda to the systematic kleptocracies of Bangladesh and South Sudan.
“We have enabled and underwritten government corruption…
such as the predatory abuses of Mali’s Ibrahim Keita or Guinea’s Alpha Condé
against their own populations,” Gonzales noted.
According to the former deputy assistant secretary of state
in the Bureau of African Affairs, corruption and the failure to deliver basic
public services have led to military coups and incursions by terrorist
organisations.
Stressing that U.S. foreign aid is meant to advance American
diplomacy, security, and prosperity, he urged Washington to administer it with
“host-government buy-in and mutual accountability for outcomes.”
Gonzales believes such a strategy would create space for
market-driven growth and help block the means by which malign international
actors exploit developing economies and workers.
He referenced Secretary Marco Rubio’s statement that America
should favour “nations that have demonstrated both the ability and the
willingness to help themselves,” and avoid “failed governments in faraway
lands.”
Among his recommendations, Gonzales called for
“performance-based funding” and the “right focus,” centred on systemic reforms
that enable sustainable growth and mutual opportunities for the U.S. and
recipient countries.
The ambassador suggested adopting contractual approaches,
unlike USAID’s Development Objective Agreements (DOAs), which bound the U.S. to
fund sectors but rarely included host-government performance commitments.
Gonzales said the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
offers best practice by clearly defining shared objectives and commitments by
both governments, reducing uncertainty, and improving accountability.
The envoy added that under President Donald Trump and
Secretary Rubio’s leadership, America has the opportunity and courage to
acknowledge its mistakes, embrace candid lessons learned, and do better.
“Assistance that delivers for the American people and our
partners must be founded on transparent engagement,” he said. “Nothing should
be imposed, hidden, given as ultimatums, or come at the partner’s expense; we
are not China.”
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