“For God’s sake, please stop the aid!”
SPIEGEL: Would Africa actually be able to solve these problems on its own?
Shikwati: Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of the countries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast natural resources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated. In the industrial nations, there’s a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn’t do all that poorly either.
Not So Fast 
ooohhh…don’t get me started!!! Sure, Africa could solve it’s problems on it’s own but don’t even think of pointing the finger first at the aid world. Perhaps we should talk about good governance, or about debt, or about corruption, violent wars, multi-nationals pillaging the continent for cheap resources. Aid agencies pull out and people will die. That’s all there is to it. Many African nations just don’t want to spend the time and energy to step in and stop that.