INTRODUCTION Africa has been a high aid recipient continent.

The amount of aid flowing to the continent form different development partners is so high and enormous. The trend of giving aid to the continent is not a new phenomenon as it has been there soon after the time of independence. The logic of giving aid is clearly articulated as need to enhance growth. Thus by pumping more aid in terms of cash, technical assistance, and purchases, the continent is able to attain growth as the activities are aiming at complimenting the effort of the African states on attaining socio-economic and political development. However, aid has raised the concern to the international community. This is because in all years of providing aid, Africa has not developed neither showing certain advances into her growth. Against this backdrop, number of arguments has been raised. The first argument contends that what Africa need is trade, others contends that what Africa need is more aid so as to facilitate growth. Yet the other side critics at the aid and say that there is nothing such as aid.

Aid Revisited As in the contemporary era there has been a debate on whether Africa, and the rest of the developing world, should be given aid or should abstain from receiving the aid. Dambisa Moyo (2009) has raised the critique on giving Aid

to Africa. In her famous work titled Dead Aid, she has argued that There should be complete abstinence from giving the aid to Africa (Moyo, 2009). Also William Easterly (2006) is rises a critique on giving aid as it has, historically, failed to enhance growth. Notwithstanding, on the contrary, Sachs (2005) argues in favour of aid, he contends that more aid should be pumped to Africa, as giving aid is the moral obligation of rich countries towards ending poverty. To take the argument further Paul Collier who is vowing for the aid should be given so as to solve the problem of poverty which has been a breeding ground for conflicts in the continent. However, he argues that aid should be given with certain conditionalities so that it cannot end up into unintended channels (Dollar and Collier, 2001). Hence the aid has received different treatment form different scholars. From all of these arguments the ones who are contending that there is nothing such as aid is the right and this is due to the following explanations;What aid ought to be and what ought not to be From the conventional wisdom this essay argues that, aid should be intending at improving the welfare of the recipients and not the donors. If aid is on the contrary terms, thus it intends to benefit the donor instead of the recipient, then that is not aid rather than something else. Thus it is the mean for other ends. These ends, by drawing the examples from the existing empirical evidence, is that aid is given as an incentive to change policy, and for political reasons, which in many cases can be less efficient than the

optimal condition (Collier and Dollar, 2001). From this argument it is where this essay argues that there is no such thing as aid. Hence, the aid which has been given only aims at the perpetuation of controlling other states by strong states, in this context, African states (Manji and OCoill, 2002; Stone, 2004).

There is no such a thing as aid: the Evidence As put forth in the first part this paper the donors has provided enormous amount of aid to the African countries. The aid has been ranging into various forms. Normatively it was assumed that giving the aid to the improvised African countries will have the positive impact in growth has, empirically, sparked the contrary. Due to that various scholars have risen the argument questioning the aid in Africa. The donors dominance as the key aid provider in Africa has resulted into the situation of now growth at all. Rather it has helped it to cement its position in Africa. This gives it the position to direct the decisions and actions of the continent (Stone, 2004). Looking from this argument it is where those who argue that there is no such a thing as aid win the argument.

Also, as pin pointed earlier the aid which is provided by the donors has neither aimed at growth nor focusing on the independence of African states from breaking the chain of dependence on the aid. Much of what has been

provided by the donors has in one way or another benefited the very donor countries. This is because the aid is focusing on the sectors which do not have productivity in the economy (capital like nature) rather they are just for the consumption. But at the same time the aid which has been provided they are accompanied by many conditionalities which are determined by donors. As In many post-colonial countries real per capita GDP has fallen and welfare gains achieved since independence in areas like food

consumption, health and education have been reversed (Manji and OCoill, 2002:567). To stress more on why there is no such a thing as aid. Dambisa Moyo is the figure on which the answer can be retrieved. Her assertion is that the aid has lead to paternalistic relations between the West and Africa which in turn, instead of improving the life situations of the Africans it has worsened the lives of the people in the continent (Moyo, 2009). Although, there are those who argue for the benefit of the aid particularly in social sectors such as health, good governance and environment. However, to me such improvement is falling short of realizing that there is the need for the sustainability even at the time when the aid cannot continue to flow in Africa. If we had to credit the success of the aid we have also to understand that the improvements need to be sustained by the resources from the aid recipient countries. Yet this is not the case as the money is only provided in the sectors such as industries and production sectors which at the end would have created the resources to finance the activities in the health sector,

especially at the time when aid cannot keep flowing. So when the donors will stop to provide the aid there is the danger for such remarkable

improvements to slide back to zero. Unless we accept that the aid provision is the mean and the end, rather than being a temporary mean of improving the situation in Africa. Notwithstanding, when the very measure of providing aid to Africa are put on the balance sheet (thus on the gain and loss) it is an open secret that the donors through the very aid aimed at enhancing development in the continent, are the ones who have been gaining more than the Africans. This essay argues that, this gain is likely to leave the Africans into zero sum gain. As in order for the countries to be given the aid by external countries they should fulfill certain political and economic reforms. Leaving aside the issue of violation of the sovereignty of African countries, which has being discussed; these conditionalities produced a worse situation aside from that scenario. The West backed by international financial institutions, thus IMF and WB, which have paused to be the custodians of international development forced the African countries to accept certain economic conditions (economic reforms) these are such as open up of their economies for the companies form the Western countries into their production sectors particularly the production of commodities.

This has influenced the influx of the investors particularly the large West Multinational Companies. These companies have been harvesting the resources from African countries without benefiting the local populations,

hence contributing to the negative growth instead of contributing to the growth (Tarp, 2009). Moreover, the conditions of the state to stop involving its self in the provision of social services as the condition for receiving the aid has worsened the life of the people as the education and health sector which the African countries had funding attained negative growth (Manji and OCoill, 2002). However, contrary to what she argued on Western aid, Moyo is arguing that Africa involvement with China in aid ties is a bless. Yet the experience from the ground shows that even the Chinese aid, which Moyo treat it as a bless, is not a aid rather than a tool of controlling of Africa resources for her markets. A simpale example is the conditionality of not to recognize Taiwan so that a state can be given the aid. In international Relations perspective this is the violation of other states sovereignty. The states have the right to determine which actors they should form diplomatic relations with. Also Chinese aid is attached with the assurance to the access of Africa natural resources in exchange of the aid. This has witnessed in Democratic Republic of Congo, where China gave the aid to the country of $ 2 billion in exchange of exploiting resources worth of $ 4 billion in 2008 (Kabuyaya and Putzel, 2011 ). Also in Angola, Sudan and Zimbabwe the trend has been the same. Hence there is no something as such as aid.

CONCLUSION This essay argues that always there is no aid given to the states. Rather the aid is used as the tool for domination of weak state by strong states. Therefore, African countries should begin using their resources for

development instead of relying into short and incremental strategies which are executed in favour of aid. This aid, is what in turn becomes the tool for subordination of African states into the global system. Unless that is done, the argument of why African states fail to grow while more aid is given will keep being in prevalence for the number of years as it is today.

REFERENCE Dollar, D and Collier (2001) Aid Allocation and Poverty Reduction; European Economic Review 46 (2002) 14751500 Easterly, W (2006) The Whites Mans Burden: Why the West s Efforts to Aid The Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, The Penguin Press, New York, 2006
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Kabuyaya, N and Putzel, N (2011) Chinese aid, trade and investment and the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo; Center for International Forestry Research, Work paper 82, Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede Manji, F and OCoill, C (2002) Missionary Position: NGOs and Development in Africa; International Affairs, Vol. 78, No.3 Moyo, D (2009) Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way of Africa, Farrar, Strass and Giroux, New York Sachs, J. (2005), The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, Penguin Press:New York Stone, L (2004) The Political Economy of IMF Lending in Africa; American Political Science Review, Vol. 98, No. 4 Tarp, F (2009) Aid Effectiveness NORAD