In Dambisa Moyo’s opinion, the young economist we have already talked about, it is time to stop unrecoverable donations and prefer more virtuous and functional mechanisms to support Africa’s growth: «random helps consist only in taking money from poor people living in rich countries to put it in poor countries’ rich people’s pockets».

Her recipe? Developing commercial and working relations with Africa, as China is doing: infrastructure versus money, resources versus help, know-how versus cash.

Obviously, it won’t be simple to change things.

According to the report “Development Aid at Glance”, USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Northern European countries that have economic and political interests in Africa – are some of the first ten donors in the world. The first 10 top donors alone collect 90% of the total donated money. It’s hard not to think that this money is the result of a political will to affect countries receiving helps that are worth between 5% and 20% of their annual GDPs.

There are even more cynical interpretations, documenting how this money flow to Africa comes back to foreign countries with the interests. A very convenient round trip.

But these flows of money can’t be stopped, whatever they are used for. And this is the point we have built our reflections on.

If, among all the sceneries we are going to analyse, the worst one prevails, Africa will need more than money being worth 5% of its GDP: it will need a “Marshall Plan”, renewed and fitting the continent’s mechanisms.