Jeremy Hunt

in Africa, The News That a former colonial power, the United Kingdom, is a more strategic, political, hard-nosed approach to The Way it spends its development assistance budget, has been welcomed with a mixture of frustration and cynicism.

In the announcement of a merger Between the German Federal foreign office (FCO) and The Department of International Development (DfID), Prime Minister Boris Johnson argues That the UK should lead the Director, more attention and money for the fight against the Russian influence in The Middle East, Europe, and, by implication, less money has been treated in the distant former colonies such as Zambia and Tanzania, where "for too long British development aid, as a giant of cashpoint in the sky".

In Ghana, The Head of The West African Civil Society Institute, Nana Afadzinu, criticized The British movement as part of a wider trend in the Western countries are "more short-sighted and self-centered. "

She Said : Covid-19 had aggravated the trend, because Leakage had to.

"the building of international solidarity, the support of issues such as Human Rights and international development System - these are not important [foreign donors]," She Said .

"to be a Challenge for us to unite for The African heads of state and government,,. "

The link with UK to exit the EU, and the United Kingdom, the search for a new global role, which appears to be outside of the European Union , of course.

support for The Merger of the FCO and DfID in the United Kingdom, the former foreign Minister, Jeremy Hunt , spoke of The Need for London to have a stronger voice on The African Continent to counter the Chinese influence.

"In Africa today, it is the Competition of the Intensive Competition Between countries, such as China, which is not the promotion of democracy and Human Rights as part of their aid agenda, and countries such as the UK, the do," He Said .

"And if we support those British values, we must speak with one voice. "

But the idea of Africa as a battleground for competing influences from the outside has a long and storied history on The Continent - from the 19Th Century colonial "scramble for Africa", through the Cold War proxy conflicts with the USA and China, the growing rivalry, and even today, still struggle to access Covid-19 medicine.

in the aid and development world argue That the United Kingdom, powers, like other former colonial, still owes The Continent a huge debt for the wealth they have Extracted and continue to extract in the form of African doctors and nurses, for Example , be encouraged to emigrate to The West .

in fact, one insider complained furious That Africa is still treated as a "cashpoint" by The West , rather than The Other way round.

In Kenya, Degan Ali, the not-governmental organization, Adeso, said Britain's announcement just showed what has always been the case That The Foreign aid has always been a Western-led global System That perpetuates patterns of inequality and poverty.

"I think, in many ways, aid measures have always been dictated by foreign policy, especially in the former colonies," She says.

"I think the whole [British] Fusion make up only a Confirmation , officially, what is the unofficial has. This is perpetuated all part of the same humanitarian assistance and the development of the architecture, the structures of inequality. "

, But in recent years, DfID has a strong reputation across much of Africa As One of The Best - if not The Best development agencies, the corrupt in their nature, and a loud and important voice in steering-help-money or incompetent governments and offers.

"Why do you Take Away a Rolls Royce, and replace it with a Vauxhall Astra?", another regional expert with close knowledge of DfID, the not asked to be identified asked, but who shared the wide-spread concern That The Changes hurt, rather than strengthen, the United Kingdom's Global Influence and reputation.

"the weakening of [DfID's] voice in strategic discussions, you will see to make faster decisions, but of poorer quality," The Expert warned.

"It is a significant loss of [British] Soft Power and DfID to lose a lot of technical competence and transparency. "

looking for A departmental government may reshuffle as far away as the UK, in The Middle of a global pandemic as a relatively insignificant Event - and in fact, there are many people who argue That The Merger can be considered successful, and show it to The Other Western Nations such as Canada, which already made something similar.

Others say That the decades of Western development aid proved to be spectacularly ineffective in the fight against poverty, and That what Africa really needs - and many point-to-tiny Rwanda as a leading Example - is a determination to wean himself from the all too addicted to Western aid as a whole.

"It was always a scramble for Africa, attempt a partition Africa, and now we have China plays a big role," says Ms Afadzinu in Ghana.

"And I don't think the Africans are blind to it. We must be courageous enough to take a stance against the Western Power and influence.

"But, unfortunately, there is always a gap Between Francophone and Anglophone Africa.

"There's always this home done treacherous work, to ensure That these Fault Lines are deepening. We Are pawns in The Hands of these other global powers, and our politicians have not risen to The Challenge . "

Source of news: bbc.com