RISING ABOVE FOREIGN AID

Sir,

During the tabling of the E26.4 billlion national budget, Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg was in a celebratory mood, saying: “Mr Speaker, this year we are tabling a fully financed budget. For the first time as a minister, I am not going to the market for budget support.” Looking at the numerous interrelated challenges that we face as a country, one would think politicians and government would seek to address matters concerning the youth, women, inclusive economic growth, healthcare and governance. Addressing all these challenges is hardly about snapping fingers; it requires consistent implementation of key policies and of course funding; a lot of funding.

The source of this much needed funding needs to primarily come from government. It is all about a simple principle of controlling your own destiny, as highlighted in Africa’s collective vision known as Agenda 2063. But at the moment, this is hardly the case. An extensive list of the country’s challenges are being addressed with foreign aid and this problem has been summed up with the buzzword ‘donor dependency’. On the surface, foreign aid might seem like a good initiative as it allows countries to allocate resources to other areas, while the international community funds the rest. But in reality, these arrangements take us backwards and don’t allow us to play the role we need to play in the global arena. In today’s Eswatini, it is common to find instances where national programmes are kept afloat by foreign funds. To put it mildly, this is unacceptable.

I am not against partnering with foreign governments or agencies on certain initiatives but at the moment, we cannot run away from Thomas Sankara’s words; “He who feeds you, controls you.” In other words, it would be extremely naïve to expect other countries to give us so much without expecting them to influence our direction and decisions as a country. If we continue to rely so heavily on foreign assistance, how can we really expect to have a meaningful voice at international forums? The quest to break free from this vicious cycle of dependency will certainly not be an overnight process, but our future depends on it. Achieving the country we want hinges so much on our ability to get our house in order, deliberately creating a country that can fully support the aspirations of its people.  For this to happen, we need to put our money where our mouth is and start funding our own direction.

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