EXPENSIVE POVERTY, why aid fails and how it can work, foreword by Hailemariam Desalegn

429pp., maps, paperback, Johannesburg, 2021

"Africa has received $1.2 trillion in development assistance since 1990. Even though donors have spent more than $1 000 per person over these 30 years, the average income of sub-Saharan Africans has increased by just $350. The continent has very little to show for this money, some of which has been consumed by the donors themselves, much of it by local governments and elites ... Whatever the area of aid expenditure – humanitarian, governance, military, development – the overall intention should be the same: to try to reach the point that aid is no longer necessary." from the back cover

"An engrossing read, showing us the path away from the use of poverty as a tool of political control." Dr Kizza Besigye, presidential candidate, Uganda

"Another riveting read from Greg Mills on economic development in Africa - based on real experience; exploring, ruminating on and answering today's most pressing strategic questions." John Githongo, former permanent secretary for governance and ethics, Kenya

Greg Mills is Director of the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation. He is the author of Why Africa is Poor: and what Africans can do about it and Why States Recover: changing walking societies into winning nations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and co-author with Jeffrey Herbst of How South Africa Works, and must do better.