Kenya among countries that received largest amount of foreign aid - Report

The report titled, Financing Africa: Where is the money? by Mo Ibrahim Foundation, showed that Kenya received Ksh.426 billion whereby more than half of it came from multilateral institutions such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and World Bank Group. 

Egypt received the largest amount of financial aid of any African country, amounting to Ksh.995 billion, followed by Ethiopia which received Ksh.684 billion. 

Nigeria and DR Congo received Ksh.646 billion and Ksh.439 billion respectively. 

The top ten African countries, which host over 70 per cent of the continent’s population, received nearly half (46.4 per cent) of the total aid to the continent. 

Overall, Africa received over 28 per cent of global financial aid, more than any other in the world region. 

Does Financial Aid Money Get Lost?

According to the report, many countries encounter difficulties in absorbing donor funds because of political and administrative issues in managing investment projects. 

It is estimated that between 10 per cent to 70 per cent of funds towards project financing goes unused, depending on the country. 

“When it comes to loans, donors see their money tied up with no return, while beneficiaries struggle with the underutilisation of the financial resources allocated,” the report read in part. 

One of the major challenges highlighted in the report is mislabelling or undistributed aid whereby donor countries don’t provide funds that they pledged. 

The report noted that over Ksh.24 trillion was intended to be distributed but was not delivered. 

Ajay Banga, World Bank President, attributed the delay to procedural issues by the multilateral institutions. World Bank, according to the report, is the largest donor, providing over Ksh.2.2 trillion in 2022. 

“Currently, a World Bank project takes 27 months – on average – before a single dollar gets out the door. This is followed by a lengthy implementation process and project construction. Too often it’s longer than 10 years before the first benefits are felt. That is a lifetime. We must do better. And there is precious time we can save,” Banga was quoted saying in the report.