Today at the Rose Cafe, Professor Nicholas van de Walle spoke about his experiences and work related to the governing bodies and economic situations of African countries. Over the course of the hour, a theme seemed to surface about the significant influence of certain forces, namely money and capital.

The kind of corruption that Professor van de Walle described as the most crippling for a country is the one in which government officials take the majority of the funds, for example, from the health department. The greed of those in power combined with the absence of an incentive, such a term limits, to do good for their country motivates their actions and leaves the majority of the people in poverty.

The “donors community” of the world, namely government organizations, are also motivated by money and economic well-being. The underlying goal of providing aid to poor African countries is to ensure economic stability, thus providing some insurance for the economic well being of the country giving the aid, such as the United States. Ensuring economic stability translate into maintaining the status quo in Africa. Professor van de Walle argues that total reform of government, such as a shift from dictatorship to democracy, would likely have the greatest positive impact on the economy of the African country in question. However, the political institutions of outside nations that donate money to Africa would not support such a radical change because it would surely lead to a period of economic, political, and social instability. Thus, the monetary motivations of the donors prevent important changes from taking place.

Another important influence that I noticed but is perhaps is not directly related to the ideas discussed above, is the influence of our first experiences. Professor van de Walle’s first job after receiving his Master’s degree at the London School of Economics was working for the United Nations in Tunisia, where he experienced and saw the existing corruption and poverty first-hand. He mentioned that this experience inspired his academic work on the doctoral level as well as future travels. This account demonstrates that although we may not realize it until we look upon our “firsts” in hindsight, but our first exposure to new things directly and indirectly shapes the actions we take and choices we make in the future.

Professor van de Walle’s presentation today gave us a comprehensive glimpse into the history, government, and economy of Africa while simultaneously touching on a few very broadly-applicable themes.