Development Aid Beyond 2015? : Aid Effectiveness Evaluated by World Bank Indicators and Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) – A Trend Benchmarking Study in Kenya, Tanzania and Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

In many academic analyses of foreign aid, the provision of development assistance has been considered to represent an international extension of domestic welfare efforts. Development assistance represents one mechanism for the redistribution of global wealth. Providing development assistance is one tool in fighting against poverty and various development problems like illiteracy, health problems and inequality. In a way development aid is an extension of welfare policy. Especially Nordic countries and the Netherlands have had this kind of approach to the planning of development aid.

This article focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Kenya and Tanzania. There two research themes. Firstly, an evaluation of effectiveness of aid allocation for Kenya and Tanzania is presented and these evaluations are compared to general trends of Sub-Saharan Africa. Official Development Assistance (ODA) by definition refers to financial flows having economic development function and welfare improvement in developing countries as their main objective. In this study ODA transfers are analysed and their effectiveness are evaluated. Secondly, a benchmarking analysis of Millennium Development Goals and associated World Band indicators are reported. The European Union accepts the MDGs as a primary reference point, with poverty eradication serving as an overarching goal of development cooperation. Investments in social infrastructure and social services are a large priority area for the EU.