Institutional destruction resulting from donor and project proliferation in Sub-Saharan African countries

Abstract This note suggests that the most important feature distinguishing foreign aid in the 1970s from earlier programmes was the proliferation of donors and projects. This donor and project build-up, which continues into the 1980s, is having a negative impact on the major government institutions of developing nations. Instead of working to establish comprehensive and consistent national development objectives and policies, government officials are forced to focus on pleasing donors by approving projects that mirror the current development ‘enthusiasm’ of each donor. Further, efforts to implement the large number of discrete, donor-financed projects, each with its own specific objectives and reporting requirements, use up far more time and effort than is appropriate. Project consolidation is needed, but this is unlikely to occur on a significant scale because of the competitive nature of donor interactions. Second-best solutions include a greater emphasis on institution-building and new projects expressly intended to facilitate implementation of existing project portfolios.