Simply put, “Trade vs. Aid” is an exchange (receive and contribution) versus a one-way transfer . The idea for this book came to me as a result of my own experiences, first in Africa and then in the Caribbean and Central America. In the case of the first, I was a young military serving during the war in Sierra Leone during the 1990s. Posted in West Africa, I tried to help the local economy by doing my contribution. Young, naive, and eager to do good in the world, I did what I thought might help the people of Guinea: I gave all my employees a hefty raise. Safe to say, the plan backfired and created a disruption in the micro-economy of the region. Amongst other effects, farmers didn’t have the purchasing power to fulfill their basic family needs. Unfortunately, I had managed to successfully mess with the delicate balance of the local economy in a matter of a few weeks.
Fast-forward some two decades, and I lead a nonprofit called “For Better Community” registered in the USA with projects in the Caribbean and Central America. The purpose is to help local communities in the most impoverished parts of the countries by providing them with the skills necessary to become self-reliant.
And this is exactly what my book “Trade vs. Aid” is about: understanding the impact and the implications of Trade and Aid. From the history of foreign aid to economics and international relations, I wanted to understand why aid has become such an integral part of any “first-world” country’s diplomatic and foreign policy today, even though it has clear limitations. Of course, foreign aid has done a lot of good in the world. It has served as a desperate lifeline for countries struggling with war, conflict, and natural disasters, such as humanitarian aid in Ethiopia.
But, aid has also trapped countries to become overly dependent on foreign bodies. One big problem with aid is that democratically elected leaders often tend to become complacent, looking at foreign governments and NGOs rather than at their own leaders and themselves to solve their own country and community’s problems. The other drawback of aid comes down to how it often tends to create short-term benefits with many “coming back to square one” once the aid halts i.e. solving problems in a manner that doesn’t lead to self-sufficiency for the receiving country.
Can Trade be seen as a strategy for development over Aid? In the words of Ghanian tech entrepreneur Herman Chinery-Hesse, “I don’t know of any country in the world where a bunch of foreigners came and developed the country. I don’t know one: Japan? Korea? No! No country did that. I know about countries that developed on trade, innovation, and business.”
Why not explore the concept of Aid for Trade? What if the aid provided to encourage the beneficiaries to play an active role in their communities and the world economy? Concepts such as open trade, fair trade, and smart aid are a new way of doing trade and business. I strongly believe that teaching one to catch their own fish is indeed the best solution when it comes to long-term and sustainable development in communities in need.
Patrick Lussier
Managing Partner
TripleWaterfall
