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The Aid 'Darlings' and 'Orphans' of the Great Lakes Region in Africa

Author

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  • Stefaan Marysse
  • An Ansoms
  • Danny Cassimon

Abstract

This paper looks at the developmental consequences of aid flows on the Great Lakes region in Africa. Our main hypothesis is that political considerations and donor coordination problems still play an important role in directing aid and is much less dependent on objective criteria such as the need for aid or good governance. The region of the Great Lakes in Africa is a good illustration of the 'darlings' versus 'orphans' policy of official development assistance (ODA). Departing somewhat from the dominant pessimist stance on the effectiveness of aid in sub-Sahara Africa we will try to show that overall, the costs of exclusion of certain countries from aid are detrimental for human development. In order to avoid this inclusion/exclusion pattern of aid, a regional donor approach should overarch the dominant country by country donor policy. Cet article essaie d'analyser les conséquences des flux d'aide sur le développement de trois pays dans la région des Grands Lacs d'Afrique. Les considérations politiques et les problèmes de coordination entre bailleurs de fonds mènent à un traitement différencié de la part de la communauté internationale. Ce traitement différencié est une illustration parfaite de la thèse sur l'exclusion/inclusion de certains pays de l'aide internationale. Les conséquences de cette politique, loin d'être le produit d'une rationalité d'aide basé sur les besoins d'aide ou les mérites de gouvernance des pays dépendants, peuvent avoir des effets néfastes en termes de développement.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefaan Marysse & An Ansoms & Danny Cassimon, 2007. "The Aid 'Darlings' and 'Orphans' of the Great Lakes Region in Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 433-458.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurjdr:v:19:y:2007:i:3:p:433-458
    DOI: 10.1080/09578810701504453
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    Cited by:

    1. Devon E.A. Curtis, 2015. "Development assistance and the lasting legacies of rebellion in Burundi and Rwanda," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(7), pages 1365-1381, July.
    2. Curtis, Devon E. A., 2014. "Local agency, development assistance and the legacies of rebellion in Burundi and Rwanda," WIDER Working Paper Series 128, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Danny Cassimon & Dennis Essers & Karel Verbeke, 2016. "The changing face of Rwanda's public debt," BeFinD Working Papers 0114, University of Namur, Department of Economics.
    4. An Ansoms & Donatella Rostagno, 2012. "Rwanda's Vision 2020 halfway through: what the eye does not see," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(133), pages 427-450, September.
    5. Magdalena Kania, 2021. "Sub-state Governments as Rising Stakeholders in Development Cooperation. The Added Value of Regional Governments in the Light of Debates on Effectiveness in Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(3), pages 604-625, June.
    6. Ronald B. Davies & Stephan Klasen, 2013. "Of Donor Coordination, Free-Riding, Darlings, and Orphans: The dependence of bilateral aid on other bilateral giving," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 137, Courant Research Centre PEG.
    7. Hackenesch, Christine, 2015. "It’s Domestic Politics, Stupid! EU Democracy Promotion Strategies Meet African Dominant Party Regimes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 85-96.
    8. Devon E. A. Curtis, 2014. "Local Agency, Development Assistance and the Legacies of Rebellion in Burundi and Rwanda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-128, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Takeuchi, Shinichi, 2011. "Gacaca and DDR:The Disputable Record of State-Building in Rwanda," Working Papers 32, JICA Research Institute.
    10. Diemel, J.A. & Cuvelier, J., 2015. "Explaining the uneven distribution of conflict-mineral policy implementation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: The role of the Katanga policy network (2009–2011)," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(P2), pages 151-160.
    11. Annalisa Bolin, 2021. "The strategic internationalism of Rwandan heritage," Journal of Eastern African Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 485-504, July.
    12. Roberto Iacono & Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati, 2024. "Unintended Consequences of Externally Aided Projects on Fiscal Transfers: A Subnational Study of India," CESifo Working Paper Series 11498, CESifo.
    13. Sam Desiere & Lotte Staelens & Marijke D’Haese, 2016. "When the Data Source Writes the Conclusion: Evaluating Agricultural Policies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(9), pages 1372-1387, September.
    14. Liam Swiss & Stephen Brown, 2015. "The aid orphan myth," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(2), pages 240-256, February.
    15. Anne Décobert & Tamas Wells, 2020. "Interpretive Complexity and Crisis: the History of International Aid to Myanmar," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(2), pages 294-315, April.
    16. Emmanuel Frot & Javier Santiso, 2011. "Herding in Aid Allocation," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(1), pages 54-74, February.
    17. Ronald B. Davies & Stephan Klasen, 2019. "Darlings and Orphans: Interactions across Donors in International Aid," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(1), pages 243-277, January.
    18. repec:gig:afjour:v:45:y:2010:i:1:p:95-116 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Graham Harrison, 2016. "Rwanda: an agrarian developmental state?," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 354-370, February.

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