The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.
I remember reading an article about this topic before. The main point of that article was that cheap material and labor from abroad is destroying the competitiveness of local business. It was at the time when, in high school, it was popular for everyone to go to Africa or Central America and build houses for local residents. I tried to raise awareness about the fact that their unskilled housebuilding at no cost to the natives is hurting their economy. No one really listened to me, and I later understood that people went there for a vacation, meaning 20 kids and 10 grown-ups work 4 hours per day and spend the rest of the time drinking and taking pictures with small kids for facebook pictures to show how virtuous they are.