2. What problem does Ms. Moyo have with the West's view of Africa only as a place of war, disease, poverty and corruption?

3. What does Ms. Arunga see as the biggest problem facing the African continent?

4. What do you think of the potential investor who asked 'Do [Africans] have cell phones? and Who do they call?'
Why do you think she hold this view?

5. How can Ms. Arunga's plan for mobile phones help Africans?

6. How has the culture of foreign aid begun 60 years ago affected Africa's population economically?

7. According to William Duggan of Colombia Business School, how have celebrities hurt Africa with their calls for 'more aid'?

8. Consider the following ideas below that were presented in this article. How has this information affected the way you view aid to Africa? Explain your answer.

• Government-to-government aid to Africa is hurting trade. (para. 5)
• "Study after study after study . . . have shown that after many decades and many millions of dollars, aid has had no appreciable impact on development." (para. 6)
• "Aid has financed consumption rather than investment; and foreign aid was shown to increase unproductive public consumption and fail to promote investment." (para. 6)
• Many Africans can escape impoverishment through economic growth rather than charity handouts. (para. 8)
• "There is basic human dignity that comes from people being involved in the market and solving problems and making a living from being useful rather than receiving charity. I don't think charity is a way to wealth, and I never heard of one telling their children it is either."(para. 10)
• Africa is a leading depository of in-demand minerals and metals like platinum, nickel, and cobalt (hosting 60 percent of the world's cobalt reserves and 90 percent of its platinum)-raw materials vital to the production of automotives, computers, and satellite technology. In addition, it is a major producer of gold, diamonds, and uranium. Its proven oil reserves are nearly 10 percent of the world total (making up 12.5 percent of current supply). Yet for all that, most African governments remain 70-80% dependent on foreign aid (that is, government-to-government transfers of aid, not including most humanitarian aid and emergency relief). The United States sends approximately $40 billion in direct foreign aid to Africa each year, while the continent attracts less than 1 percent of the world's foreign direct investment-about $17 billion. (para. 17-19)
• "Aid has been, and continues to be, an unmitigated political, economic, and humanitarian disaster for most parts of the developing world." (para. 20)
• "By the late 1990s, most of us in the aid world knew traditional aid wasn't working. After 30 years and trillions of dollars, most countries receiving aid were just as poor as when the aid started." (para. 22)
• One better way [to help Africa is] smart aid, or "aid that empowers the African people." The United States should give aid not based on the promises of governments to reform, he said, but based on the formation of independent, critical institutions, like central banks, judicial systems, media, electoral commissions, and neutral and professional armed forces. (para. 28)
• African governments also must get serious about reform. "They don't want to give up power." (para. 30)