In this month's global development podcast, we ask: why should government aid be used to boost private enterprise?
In the UK, where the public and politicians voice scepticism about the growing aid budget, the coalition government is increasingly looking to the private sector to assist its development efforts. The Department for International Development (DfID) believes working with companies and focusing on economic development could be a win-win for both poor countries and British companies. DfID is planning to spend £1.8bn on economic development programmes by 2015-16 – more than double that spent in 2012-13.
But how can we ensure that this money reaches the poorest? Should businesses in Britain and other donor countries be able to profit from overseas aid budgets? And, given that UK aid spending is required to have poverty reduction as its primary aim, does spending it on private investment fit the bill?
We hear from Diana Good, a commissioner at the UK's aid watchdog, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, which recently published a report on DfID's involvement with the private sector; the Guardian's Claire Provost, who has recently investigated the work of the CDC, the investment arm of the UK government; Tjada D'Oyen McKenna, of Feed the Future, the US government's global hunger and food security initiative; and from Wairimu Gitahi in Kenya and Erick Kabendera in Tanzania on the impact of private investment.
In the studio, presenter Hugh Muir steers the discussion between Amy Dodd the UK Aid Network, Alberto Lemma, from the Overseas Development Institute, and down the line from Nairobi, Alvin Mosioma, from the Tax Justice Network Africa.
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