Aid to AfricaMany Western countries, especially USA and Europe have a tradition of philathrophy, with many wealthy people donating a large part of their earnings to the less privileged people. Since Africa has the largest number of poor people in the world, it has attracted a lot of attention and financial aid from both governments of wealthy countries and high profile charities through out the world. However, the aid has not made any difference, with the number of people living below the poverty line actually increasing.
One of the reasons why financial aid to Africa is so ineffective is that most of the money does not reach the people whose life it is supposed to improve. Corruption levels in Africa are high and few countries have democratically elected governments. Most of the countries are ruled by dictators or military rulers who appropriate the financial aid money for themselves. The rulers live an opulent life while the citizens of the country live in abject poverty.
Some donors try to alleviate this problem by providing the assistance in kind - in terms of food, clothing, housing. Many times the food is not suitable or sold off in the black market by corrupt government officials. Similarly clothing and housing do not reach their intended recipients.
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