Last week’s Rose Cafe, given by Professor Nicolas van de Walle, pertained to the political impact of economic reform in African countries, specifically focusing on the effect of foreign aid. In order to build up the economies of several developing countries in Africa, foreign nations have contributed large amounts of aid, which is usually viewed as a positive thing. However, from first-hand experience working with multiple African countries through the U.N., Professor van de Walle offered a different perspective. Rather than improving the country, the donated money often enables corruption and a lack of incentive to work in order to solve the county’s problems. Often, one corrupt government is overthrown, just to be replaced by another that’s equally corrupt. This political instability has led to huge economic issues and impoverishment of the population. According to Professor van de Walle, when leaving the office, people would take the light bulbs with them in order to prevent them from being stolen. This shocking example of how desperate many must be illustrates the tumultuous state of the economies of many African countries.

As a partial solution to this complex issue, Professor van de Walle suggested a method of aid in which countries have to meet a certain standard in order to receive and foreign financial benefits. This would perhaps motivate government officials to make an effort in ruling the country in order to avoid being overthrown. He also noted that limiting the number of years spent in office often positively correlates with the effectiveness of the ruler, regardless of the type of government. Perhaps if some of these methods were implemented and enforced, the political and economic problems faced by corrupt countries would be mitigated over time.