Mazimeru Hydro Power Plant inaugurated

Another of the hydro projects I was working on in Rwanda in 2006-2009 finally goes into operation. More importantly, the project vindicates private sector promotion as a way of developing the energy sector.

Good work CARERA, ADENYA and GIZ....



http://newsofrwanda.com/ibikorwa/8838/nyaruguru-district-prime-minister-commends-private-ownership-hydro-power-plant/

"“Do you see how state-owned companies differ from privately-owned ones?”, ... were [the] Prime Minister’s first words at Nshili hydro power plant, ... criticizing the slow-paced activities at Nshili hydro power plant – which is state-run "

Mid-term project review of the CYIKAC project (http://tiny.cc/2470p)

Introduction

The State of Connecticut seconded the economic development and capacity building consultant Hank Morgan to the government of 6th Century Britain. The consultant’s mission is to:

• Advise the government on industrial development policy
• Plan and implement national infrastructure development
• Support and promote institutional reform
• Capacity building of government officials
• Improvement of the national schooling system

Whilst the consultant’s mandate is ambitious, it is felt that such a broad intervention is required to mobilise the critical momentum to lift Britain out of its poverty trap.

Outcomes

The consultant has been able to establish a number of small industries, has built one water supply well, developed a national telegraph network, and has undertaken a number of successful capacity building measures. Further, the consultant has initiated a number of policy initiatives and has begun a stakeholder consultation regarding constitutional reform

Sustainability of the intervention

Whilst it is difficult to assess the long-term impact of this intervention at this stage, it appears that the capacity building measures and high level of government commitment will ensure a lasting impact and the maintenance of new infrastructure created.

Challenges and risks

A number of challenges remain, particularly the low level of literacy due to the slow impact of improvements in the education system. Survey results have shown a low level of awareness of the development intervention, with some recipients referring to specific interventions as wizardry.

Political tension in the country continues to pose a risk to development workers’ personal safety. We propose that developments are monitored closely. Of particular concern is the potential for a power-struggle between the military, the clergy and the King.

Donorbabble bingo

Enjoy.

Kigali in 1968 to today

Not a new picture, but it still impresses me. The first picture is from 1968, the others are recent.

Businesspeople

Gregory Tayi and Olivier Ngororabanga coordinated one of the micro-hydropower projects GIZ supported whilst I was coordinating the project there in 2006-2009. It was a great pleasure and privilege to work with both of them. Gregory was interviewed a few months ago by the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15695209. It's a charming interview:

The main capital one has is oneself; to know what one wants and where one wants to go.

...

Money is not what makes the [business]person. ... [Business] is making life easier for others.

At the inauguration of the REPRO micro-hydropower plant in 2010

Muzungu's burden

Having finished a long overdue reading of William Easterly's book, White Man's Burden a couple of months ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the book: Easterly's articles (e.g. Can the West Save Africa, Dismal Science) tend to be a rather excessively pessimistic deconstruction of the failings of modern development aid; in this book Easterly goes much further in proposing ways in which we can move forward in solving the problems of the poor.

The central argument is one of Planners versus Searchers. Easterly's Planners are the proponents of the classical top-down development aid. This is particularly prevalent in the large bi-lateral and multi-lateral donor organisations. The Searchers are grass-roots implementers who try out and search for techniques and projects that work. Many grass-roots NGOs can be described as Searchers. Reform of development aid according to Easterly should involve a shift of power from Planners to Searchers. Easterly also tackles a range of other development issues such as accountability, recipient country participation and military intervention.

White Man's Burden is often seen as the antithesis to Jeffrey Sachs' book, End of Poverty. This comparison hardly does Easterly justice. The End of Poverty is a mostly anecdotal account with very little hard data to back up the core theses of the book. White Man's Burden bases its arguments on historical data, and uses anecdotal evidence only to complement, illustrate and occasionally complete when statistical data is insufficient. By comparison, I found The End of Poverty a weak and sloppy work that borders on populism.

I do however find one important weakness in the argument of White Man's Burden. Whilst results-oriented Searchers may indeed be able to offer direct solutions to straightforward problems such as school enrollment and mosquito bed nets, it is unlikely that more long-term projects such as private sector development or vocational training will work in the same way. Long-term projects tend to require people who can afford to worry less about immediate results. There is a balance to be struck.

This is an excellent book and an entertaining read.

Nobody cares what I think

Here is a graphic (taken from FiveThirtyEight) that today makes me feel better about the world. According to the site, Barack Obama has a 90.7% probability of winning the election (Win Percentage) based on several current polls and current trends.

Not being a US voter, of course I don't get to vote. I feel strangely cheated, as I think I would do a better job of it than approximately 46.6% of US citizens. I feel that it should be in countries' interests to invite me to vote in their national elections to improve the quality of the outcome. Please send invitations via my profile in the right column of this page.

More seriously, I ask whether there isn't a case to be made for US "protectorates" like Afghanistan and Iraq to have a voice in who will run their domestic security and reconstruction projects. This doesn't necessary have to be by involvement in presidential elections, but perhaps of a ratification by direct suffrage of nominated American representatives in their country. By extension, should citizens in developing countries, whose social services are funded by foreign donor governments, not be allowed to hold those governments to account. Should they not be allowed to chose who their donors are, if they have such a huge influence on the development of their country? Just imagine a news announcement like: "In Rwanda on Saturday, a new World Bank country representative has been elected by the people of Rwanda. The incumbent, Victoria Kwakwa, confirmed that she would accept the election result and called on her supporters to peacefully accept the decision."

Project Description

There are several reasons why I write very little about my actual job here in Rwanda on this blog. However, now find an up-dated description of the project that I am coordinating online :

[Project] Title: Private Sector Participation in Micro-hydro Power supply for Rural Development

Per capita energy consumption in Rwanda is one of the lowest in the world. Less than five percent of the population has access to electric power, with less than one percent in rural areas. ... the project will provide technical and business expertise to support the creation ... of ... [private sector] energy providers. ...

7,000 households, up to 350 small businesses, and institutions providing social services in six municipalities will be connected to local power grids. Six small enterprises are given support for the installation of small hydro power plants for electricity generation.

Meddling

A World Politics Review article, gives some interesting and very balanced perspectives on the huge support for Kagame and the Rwandan government. It starts:

The West and its development industry have serially backed a series of African leaders as exemplars for the continent, only to see them come to resemble the autocrats they previously opposed. Yet neither the diplomats nor the donors can refrain from anointing new visionaries.

Indeed there has never been a shortage of stupid white people to meddle in the politics of other countries.

The current favorite is Rwandan President Paul Kagame, admired for his prudent political and economic management after the 1994 genocide. ... Without security, Kagame says, there can be no development. Kinzer believes Rwandans deeply appreciate this emphasis on societal rights such as raising the standard of living and guaranteed personal safety. Out of fear of another genocide, their preference must not be dismissed.

This is a view I can only confirm from conversations with Rwandans here. Of course, it doesn't apply to everyone. There are unfortunately still many Rwandans that would like to see the collapse of the present system.

However, the problem is that Kagame has blurred the line between legitimate social control and repression.

but...

[New York Times foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer says,] "[Rwandans] have little interest in politics or ideology," Kinzer writes. "They are happy that President Kagame has centralized so much power in his own hands and are not fearful that he is becoming a dictator."

True. But the conclusion of the article is poignant both for the attitude of Rwandans and the West:

Such enthusiasm for a leader with a mixed record is misguided. Experience, based upon the previous rises and staggering falls of Western-anointed visionaries, dictates that Kagame should be viewed with skepticism. Praise, however, will be merited if his development plan is actually realized.

Word of the Day: Mittelabflussproblem

Mittelabflussproblem (n.) - From German. Literally meaning "the problem of fund disbursal". Could also be transliterated as "means drainage problem". This describes the problem faced by almost all development agencies in which project expenditure is always less than maximum project expenditure. This creates a problem for the project, because if it fails to meet expenditure targets, this will result in one or both of the following:

1. The donor will assume that if the money is not spent, the work is not done, and therefore contractual obligations are not being fulfilled.
2. The donor will assume that if the money is not spent, it has over-allocated the budget and will cut the amount of funding available in future years.

The development project will attempt to reach the (usually impossible) target of 100% of the maximum available budget being disbursed by implementing one or more of the following actions:

1. Buying additional office equipment or project vehicles that may or may not be useful for future years.
2. Assigning a consultancy contract for a study that is interesting, if unessential.
3. Less careful spending on existing activities.
4. Better budgetary planning.

An alternative definition of "Mittelabflussproblem" proposed here is : The problem of focusing on on fund disbursal rather than on project impact.

Aid effectiveness

I have written a few times about the problems and the (in)effectiveness of development aid. An interesting study the World Bank's Private Sector Development Blog pointed me to an interesting new study by on the subject. The study looks at the impact of aid from oil-rich muslim countries to poorer majority muslim countries. The results are interesting because they isolate the effect of aid from the selectiveness of Western donors: the tendency to support only the poorest or the tendency to support countries that are already growing fast.

The conclusion is:

The petro-aid was largely consumed, nearly all in imports. It did not lead to a measurable increase in growth, prices, or an appreciation of the exchange rate. Imported goods during the aid surge shifted away from capital goods and towards non-capital goods, and aid crowded out domestic savings. A significant share of the aid fled the country in unaccounted transactions.

The study was done by E. Werker et al. is available here.

Big Concrete Thingy

(It's a sediment separator of a micro-hydro power plant belonging to the Rwandese company, REPRO.)

2 years in Rwanda

On the 8th July it had been exactly 2 years since I arrived in Rwanda, so I think a short retrospective is in order.

It took me a long time to settle in here. When I arrived the culture, the political system and the country were opaque and almost impossible to understand. After about 6 months I felt that I at least understood how the "machinery" of the Rwandan government, society and economy worked. It took about a year for me to feel at ease with the people and come to love the country.

Rwanda is a unique place. From a state of collective trauma, the country is helping itself to emerge as an efficient and confident state. The post-genocide phase was a success. But as much as Rwanda inspires hope, it also causes dismay. There is little self-criticism, little open debate of the country's problems and much self-denial. The post-genocide phase was indeed a success, but the next phase in the country's development is overdue. Rwandans needs to accept that like any other country, Rwanda has problems; Like any other country, Rwanda has corrupt politicians; Like any other country, Rwanda's justice system is flawed; Like any other country, Rwanda has problems with racism; Like any other country, Rwanda has disadvantaged minorities, be they social, sexual or ethnic. Rwanda needs to match its political and economic courage, with social courage.

What luck for Rwanda that it has a small but growing number of hard working, well-educated and forward-thinking people. How unfortunate that the Rwandese culture is so unwelcoming to outsiders. It is easy to judge when a Rwandese begins to trust you: he/she will tell you the problems that every Rwandese knows his country has, his real opinion about the government, the real view about the genocide, will stop lying about minor personal facts, and if he/she really trusts you, you may just be invited to there home one day. Unfortunately, that kind of trust is rarely there. But perhaps, that is simply because it needs to be earned first.

Rwanda is certainly one of the most beautiful, fascinating and unusual countries that I will ever live in. I hope it realises its potential.

Ethiopia

It is with growing disgust that I read articles on recent developments in Ethiopia, whether it is regarding the famine, the war in Somalia or national politics.

A recent article by IPS comments on the recently rigged "elections" in the country. It describes elections dominated by fraud, intimidation and even killings.

Nonetheless the country receives huge amounts of military and financial support from the US in its war in Somalia (source: BBC). The justification is the war against Islamists. The result is that Ethiopia has overthrown the first government in decades that had a chance of stabilising the country. Famine, violence and civil war have followed. The country continues to meddle in a country in which it is hated and held responsible for many wars and deaths.

But the greatest tragedy is that Ethiopia, a regional military and economic power, is once again letting its people starve in a famine that could easily have been averted. And their reponse to the famine: is to ask the West to solve it.

The West finances Ethiopia's wars, support her dictatorship and feeds her people. Alas, its a well known story in Africa. Some things never change.

And because humour is the only way to stay sane in our age, I have added a poll on this issue to the top of the right column of this blog.

Word of the Day: donor state

donor state (n.) – A donor state is one in which development aid plays such an important role in the national economy and state budget, that donors wield significant influence in the nations politics and economy. Symptoms of a donor state include large proportions of foreigners working in and for government ministries, a tendency to promote government programmes over private sector development, a high production of “sector studies”, high inflation and/or high interest rates, an impotent banking sector and a weak private sector. Countries that could currently be described as donor states include Rwanda, Afghanistan, (South) Sudan, Chad and many others. The long-term success of these countries' economies depends on their developing into independant economies and institutions before their dependence becomes institutionalised and permanent. Such quasi-permanent donor states are particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa.

Word of the Day: poverty tourist

poverty tourist (n.) – Not to be confused with a development tourist (who works in development), a poverty tourist is one who comes on a holiday to a development country to see how terribly poor the poor are, and how wonderfully helpful the development industry is. Some poverty tourism can definitely be classified as a cultural exchange and has merit for both the tourist and the visited community. However, the exposure to poverty and development is generally too short and superficial to communicate the complexities of poverty and development. Poverty tourism is often coupled with donations by the tourist which increase the degree to which he/she identify with the visited development projects. These projects can range from meaningful training and employment generation projects to useless showcase do-good initiatives.

Anyone interested in coming to Rwanda for poverty tourism can look at New Dawn Associates who, despite my reservations, do appear to be doing some good work.

Development tourism revisited

My short cynical post on "Development Tourism" seems to have stimulated some discussion on other blogs, most notably in a post of a certain Chris Blattman. In particular though, I like the follow-up post in response to the discussion in which Chris says...

"Several people pointed out, rightly I think, that Westerners who spend even two weeks on a development project can give back, just not right away. Later it life, these people may give more time, thought, and money to important causes and decisions as a result. That is excellent, and important.

In that case, however, perhaps we should call these trips what they are: thoughtful and caring, but experiential, not charitable.

I think what makes me uncomfortable is the tendency (for some) to frame or advertise short visits and contributions as a way to give back, or (worse still) to 'save' someone else. ... Saving, I would argue, is an impossible and ultimately harmful aim."

My sentiments entirely. Nicely put.

Word of the Day: donor-dumping

donor-dumping (n.) - This is when a donor or development agency introduces products below the market price in competition with local businesses. Due to their financial resources, donors are able to out-compete local businesses and force them out of the market. Examples of products that are commonly “donor-dumped” on developing markets are: EU/US clothes donations, EU/US food aid, policy consultancy services, financial services and UNIDO infrastructure projects. Donor-dumping is widespread amongst all development aid organisations. In simpler, grass-roots development initiatives, donor-dumping tends to be directly visible in the form of goods or services sold at dumping prices. In more complex development projects, such as grants for infrastructure, donor-dumping can only be seen in the indirect effect on the price of services delivered by the subsidised infrastructure.

Donor-dumping not only leads to competition with local businesses. In cases where subsidies go to social infrastructure such as health centres and hospitals, donor-dumping can also lead to unfair competition with state-run infrastructure. In a heavily donor-funded state, this leads to a parallel state-system run by donor/NGO funding and management structures.

Almost all donor-funded projects have activities which can be classified as donor-dumping. This is a result or poor project design and the Mittelabflussproblem (the use of cash disbursement as the main success indicator for development projects).

Word of the Day: development tourist

Development tourist (n.) – An intern or short-term employee on a contract of up to 1 year, who wants to “experience the developing world” and “help out”, and who will afterwards leave the country, leave Africa and/or even leave development aid work altogether. By some estimates, development tourists make up over one third of the white population of Rwanda.

Word of the Day: Donorbabble

Donorbabble (n.) - Language used by organisations working for or with the donor industry to make their work look clever. A typical example of donorbabble would be: “We will organise a multi-sectoral working group to plan the development of a sector-wide capacity building master plan.” In standard English this roughly means that a big group of people will talk about planning a plan to train people in everything. Donorbabble is used by the donor industry itself, by development consultants and also by poor country governments who "speak the language of the donors".