ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and analyses the practical problems of foreign aid, and the extent to which they are caused or exacerbated by the nature of the aid process. It is concerned with important factors which result from the nature of the aid process itself. Since the policy of the donor agency was to finance only the foreign exchange component of the total cost, the aid offered was in fact rather small, consisting of sanitary fixtures, nails, and bolts. An international agency hired a team of consultants to appraise a project to construct a sewerage system in a West African city. Aid funds are also used to finance the construction of urban roads. The chapter describes the aid project which has side effects which are unforeseen and in some way detrimental. Aid can therefore be blamed only in so far as it increases the volume of funds available with which, perhaps, to make mistakes.
