General budget support

In Tanzania aid accounts for more than 40% of the national budget. Several European countries have been sending their aid money straight into the government’s treasury and not for specific projects. The approach is called ’general budget support’. Proponents of that system say that it forces the government to be accountable to its people and also argue it’s the only way to phase out aid dependence in countries like Tanzania. However, they also advocate that taxes must be raised so they can take over from aid as financing.

Allison Dempster on Africa Files reviews the case for this kind of aid to Tanzania.

Donors and sponsors to the School of St Jude can tie their funds to something specific by sponsoring a child or a bus or a classroom, or they can donate to general funds and give the school administrators the flexibility to apply the funds where needed most.

Donor countries like Sweden and Norway are helping Tanzania grow its administrative capacities by donating to general budget support which Allison describes as

To hear its fans describe it, budget support is the Tom Hanks of foreign aid concepts - ordinary looking, but turns in solid performance most of the time. A no-name’brand approach to international aid, if
you will.

Interesting, yes?

World's biggest prize goes to Africa

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has announced the world's biggest prize. It will go to past leaders of African states who demonstrated excellent leadership. To qualify, leaders must have been fairly elected and served their term. The prize will be judged partly on the measures established by the Ibrahim Governance Index, which has been developed by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Dr Mo Ibrahim, African cell phone entrepreneur, has established this prize

It's bigger than the Melbourne Cup, the world's richest horse race, so what is it worth? Try this:

• US$ 5 million over 10 years
  
• US$ 200,000 annually for life thereafter
  
• A further US$ 200,000 per year for good causes espoused by the winner

This initiative seems to be very well thought through, and it has the support of important leaders like Nelson Mandela –

Mo Ibrahim has a vision to promote and recognise good governance that will drive Africa's political and economic renaissance. He has established the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to develop criteria for good governance, stimulate public debate and challenge the continent's leaders to set the global benchmark on this issue.

And Kofi Annan –

I thank Mo and all those engaged for establishing such a generous prize as an incentive. It reflects the unique insight of Mo the African and Mo the businessman and entrepreneur. May your initiative inspire and celebrate the best of African leadership and equip future leaders with the knowledge and experience they will need.

There's an interview with Mo Ibrahim on AllAfrica where he says –

We exist for Africans. This is an African effort. Our foundation is an African foundation. What we really care about is African civil society and African governance.

Wow! Here is another great philanthropist focusing attention on Africa. I like the idea of providing leaders with a real financial incentive to do good things. It may help counteract the strong temptations to use power for personal gain.

I would encourage you to keep an eye on Africa. Look out for the myriad of initiatives that are springing up to foster better government and stronger economic development in very poor countries. Help comes from all directions.

Some of that help can come from you when you donate to the School of St Jude: Educating future leaders of Tanzania. Who knows? one of these students may win the Ibrahim prize one day.

Tanzania best for government effectiveness

A new World Bank report says that Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have shown significant progress in the key aspects of improving governance over the past 10 years.

Tanzania has the best record of all three countries in its efforts to control corruption and also scores best under the "Rule of Law" category. Both Kenya and Tanzania score well under the "Voice and Accountability" section, while Uganda is said to be the least stable politically.

Tanzania is also said to be the country that rates highest in terms of government effectiveness.

The ratings are based on the views of East African citizens, businesses and other survey results taken over the past 10 years.

This is really good news for economic development in Tanzania because research shows a strong correlation between higher growth and reduced corruption.

I have blogged here about recent anti-corruption legislation in Tanzania and I am now interested to see that the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have run 3-day training workshops for Tanzanian Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) prosecutors. The training brings prosecutors up to speed on the new Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act and offers techniques for diagnosing a case, developing a theory of the crime, getting evidence admitted in court, and speaking persuasively in court.

PCCB Director General Edward Hosea and DPP Assistant Director Augustine Shio (speaking) participate in PCCB prosecutor training

Through case studies and presentations by an experienced former U.S. federal prosecutor and talks by senior prosecutors and judges from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Court of Appeal, the training is expected to bolster the number of successful corruption prosecutions carried out by the PCCB and DPP.

USAID is also providing PCCB with support for the development of an electronic case management system, information technology equipment, and vehicles to facilitate field investigations.

A lot of hard work like this goes into building the capacity for better governance. Tanzania is putting the hard work, with the help of the international community.

In the same way, the School of St Jude is putting in a lot work to develop better teaching practices so that bright children from poor families have the chance of a good education.



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Tanzania recognised for good governance

Jeffrey Sachs has singled out Tanzania as one of the African countries that has benefited in recent years from good governance. He was speaking in connection with a United Nations push for a “Green Revolution” in Africa to help the continent build stable agricultural systems and rescue tens of millions of people from poverty.

The idea of a Green Revolution for Africa, inspired by a similarly named program that helped many Asian countries, especially India, out of underdevelopment in the 1970s, has been championed by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Kofi Annan

At a joint news conference in Geneva, the three U.N. agencies said the African version should not copy the Asian experience but be based on African realities, focusing on small-scale farming and help in empowering women.

Over the past 15 years, according to the FAO, the number of hungry people in Africa has increased by 45 million to a total of 220 million -- around a third of the continent's population and one quarter of the world's under-nourished people.

Yields of maize and other staple cereals in Africa remained at under 1.0 tonne per hectare, about half average yields in Asia and Latin America.

The U.N. agencies said the main causes of food insecurity were weak institutions, insufficient investment in agriculture by national governments and donor countries, a harsh environment made worse by climate change, corruption and mismanagement.

At a separate news conference, the U.N. adviser and U.S. academic Jeffrey Sachs said Ghana, Tanzania, Madagascar and Malawi were among African countries which have benefited from good governance in past years, helping drive economic progress.

Sachs said problems arose because many decision-makers in donor nations "don't know the quality of governance that is emerging in many African countries".

The School of St Jude in northern Tanzania is contributing to the future good government of the country by giving bright children from poor families an excellent education based on good ethical standards. This well-run project is worthy of your support.


African Green Revolution – an excellent online resource about this initiative.




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News Roundup

I seem to have come across lots of bits of news about Tanzania in the last few days, so I thought I’d share some of them with you.

Flaviana Tatata: Miss Tanzania 2007

More about Flaviana later, first....

Economic growth. Most exciting to me is the news that Tanzania's economy is expected to grow by 7.3 percent in 2007, up from 6.2 percent in 2006, according to a government planning agency. You may recall that growth in 2006 was reduced by the extensive power failures that occurred when drought cut off the hydro electricity supply.

The 7.3% figure is very exciting because 7% growth is required if Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved by 2015 and living standards raised. As a reference point, it is handy to know that Australia’s growth rate was 2.8% in 2006.

Africa Competitiveness Report. Good government policies, better access to finance and more infrastructure are all needed if Africa is to expand its economy. Corruption and lack of skills, energy and transport are the main bottlenecks to improving productivity and making the continent more competitive in global markets.

These are among the main findings of “Africa Competitiveness Report 2007,” a 255-page study released today ahead of the opening of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. The competitiveness study is the first research on Africa carried out jointly by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and the African Development bank.

Speaking at the launch, Senior Forum Economist Jennifer Blanke said the economic outlook for Africa is positive and that Africa's economy has grown in the last five years. The rest of the world, however, is growing at a much faster pace.

Investing in Tanzania. Which countries are investing in Tanzania? In the top ten are:

• Britain with projects worth US$ 1,115m.
• Kenya, which shares a border with Tanzania. Projects valued US$ 958.21m.
• India
• South Africa
• Netherlands
• China
• USA, Germany, UAE, Botswana.

Miss Tanzania. Finally, we know that Tanzania is engaging on all fronts when its cricket team plays in an international competion in Australia, and when Tanzania enters the Miss Universe competition! This is its first year in the competition, represented by Flaviana Tatata, an electrical technician.

Flaviana Tatata: Miss Tanzania 2007

What do you want the judges to know about you?
I am an electrical technician by profession as well as a top model in my country. I never let anyone define me neither by hair nor clothing as I believe God made me perfect as a pure, natural African woman.

I get the impression that Tanzania is on the move!



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Therapeutic giving

Yes, helping others makes you feel better. So much so, that some psychologists are treating depression with programs that include an element of 'good works' that benefit others.

In our material culture, there are so many pressures and influences that lead us to think of ourselves and to get rewards from having more stuff. We are seeing a bit of a turnaround in movements that encourage people to stop buying stuff, or make do with what they've got, or even cook more slowly and take time to enjoy mealtimes.

But mostly, we're fairly well self-obsessed.

A couple of days ago I deplored Australia's low level of foreign aid that falls short of promises the government has made. And on Monday, I blogged about the generosity of Australians. Well, an article in today's Sydney Morning Herald has me re-thinking. The article, Treasurer passes charity test that many of us fail, compares the government overseas aid with Australian's private giving to overseas causes. They say,

Australian Council for International Development, estimates the community gave almost $700 million to overseas aid last year, four times less than what the Federal Government spent on development assistance.

In Australia, voluntary giving to overseas aid is about one-eighth of the total $7.7 billion given by individuals in 2005. The $7.7 billion is the equivalent of 0.68% of gross national product.

I'm not quite sure that this evidence is enough to support the headline that the Treasurer passes the charity test. Especially when the government continues to fall so far short on its promise to give 0.7% – we're only halfway there and creeping forward in miniscule increments.

So, I'm going to persevere. I'll continue to use less in my own life and try to take time every day to consider the needs of others. This blog is one of the ways that I keep my eye on the ball.