Oh yeah, Dambisa Moyo...I was just reading her (yes, this "guy" is a woman, and not a terribly unattractive one at that) book called "Things I Found in My Nose".
Seriously, do you know anything about her, or did you just happen to find someone expressing an opinion which you already hold, and despite not knowing the first damned thing about Ms. Moyo, seized upon this as some sort of conclusive evidence that you must be correct?
A monkey can be taught to cut and paste. Stun us some time by showing that you've managed to do a little research and possess some comprehension of the speech, the speaker and the context.
Now, if Ms. Moyo speaks for all of Zambia, then fine, we could use the money ourselves anyway.
BTW, according to our own State Dept., there are a few things that might put life in Zambia into context for ya'll. More than 14% of the population is infected with HIV or full-blown AIDS. Over 800,000 children have lost at least one parent to the disease. I'd bet some of those folks might see a need for medication, education, etc. I seem to recall President Numbnuts was actually quite proud of his efforts to try to stanch the tide of AIDS sweeping Africa, most notably by providing millions to fight the disease.
Nearly 2/3 of Zambians live in poverty. Inflation reached 30% in 2000, although it has tailed off a bit since then. Because the country has been relatively stable in a region that is notoriously unstable, the country has seen an influx of refugees from other countries, estimate to be around 87,000 people at the moment, down from a high of over 200K in 2002.
The United States works closely with the Zambian Government to defeat the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is ravaging Zambia, to promote economic growth and development, and to effect political reform (currently, only one political party is permitted to operate legally) needed to promote responsive and responsible government.
Now Ms. Moyo may be correct in her beliefs, and her credentials are quite impressive. I certainly don't have any burning personal desire to send money to Zambia. I also suspect that the U.S. is happy to send money as part of an effort to have a stable base from which to operate should it ever become necessary, say with military operations.
However, her basic theme appears to have been arguing for more innovative ways for Africa to finance development including trade with China, accessing the capital markets, and microfinance. China has been aggressively pursuing resources and trade partners in other countries, so that is possible, albeit limited to Zambia's natural resources, all of which China can get elsewhere, and usually in large amounts. Accessing the capital markets won't help if you have no capital to spend or invest, and microfinancing, as a method to lift the fortunes of Zambia, would be incredibly slow to develop. Decades, not years.
BTW, for a pretty scathing review of her book, which contains some of her theories, you might want to read the following article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/feb/14/aid-africa-dambisa-moyo
One last thing, an odd bit of trivia...
Recently, the Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has detained a number of Americans for possession of Benadryl and other over-the-counter medications which have contained small quantities of diphenhydramine, an active ingredient that is on Zambia’s list of controlled substances. Although unaware of these restrictions, Americans have been charged with drug trafficking offenses, had their passports confiscated, and been jailed. That's right, people are going to jail for Benadryl.
