Dambisa Moyo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dambisa Moyo
Born	Lusaka, Zambia [1]
Nationality	Zambian
Alma mater	Oxford University (Doctorate) Harvard University (Masters) American University (B.S., MBA)
Occupation	Economist
Website http://www.dambisamoyo.com

Dambisa Moyo is an economist and the author of Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa,^[2] published in 2009. She has been dubbed a critical thinking realist who highlights how well intentioned policies (such as foreign aid to Africa) can often have unintended consequences which have detrimental effects on an economy.

Her book offers proposals for developing countries to finance development, instead of relying on foreign aid. It became a New York Times bestseller upon its release in the United States^[3] and remains a bestseller amongst Political and Economic books.^[4] Her book is published internationally by Penguin Books and in the United States by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.^[5]

In May 2009, TIME Magazine named Moyo one of the world's 100 most influential people^[1] and Oprah Winfrey featured Moyo in her September 2009 power list of remarkable visionaries.^[6]

Moyo is a frequent contributor to financial journals such as The Economist^[7] and Financial Times^[8]. She has also appeared many times as a guest on networks such as CNN^[9][10], CNBC^[11][12], BBC^[13] and Fox Business^[14] where she talks about the thesis of Dead Aid and how emerging economies can use the financial markets to wean themselves off of aid dependency at the same time as improving financial discipline and transparency. In addition, she has done numerous speaking engagements at Universities, professional organizations, economic bodies and think tanks including: OECD, World Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, American Enterprise Institute, Commonwealth Club of California and the 2009 Munk Debates.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Awards and Memberships 2 Bibliography 2.1 Dead Aid 2.2 How The West Was Lost 2.3 Financial Journals 2.4 Publications 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

Moyo was born and raised in Lusaka, Zambia. She holds a Doctorate in Economics from Oxford University and a Masters from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She also has an MBA in Finance and Bachelors degree in Chemistry from American University in Washington D.C. She worked for the World Bank for 2 years as a Consultant (from 1993-1995) and at Goldman Sachs for 8 years (from 2001 to 2008), where she worked in the debt capital markets and as an economist in the global macroeconomics team.

[edit] Awards and Memberships

In May 2009, TIME Magazine named Moyo as one of the world's 100 most influential people.^[1]

In September 2009 Moyo was featured in Oprah Winfrey's power list of 20 remarkable visionaries.^[6]

Moyo is a Patron of Absolute Return for Kids (ARK),^[15] a hedge fund supported children’s charity, and serves on the Board of the Lundin Charitable Foundation^[16] that supports microfinance initiatives in developing countries. Moyo serves on the of Board of Lundin Petroleum^[17] as well as on the board of directors of Room to Read, a non-profit that provides educational opportunities to local communities in the developing world.^[18]

In 2009, Dambisa Moyo was honoured by the World Economic Forum as one of its Young Global Leaders.^[19]. She was also appointed to the board of SABMiller.^[20]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Dead Aid

Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa argues that foreign aid has harmed Africa and that it should be phased out and became a New York Times bestseller.

The book offers proposals for developing countries to finance development, instead of relying on foreign aid. Moyo has stated that her arguments are based on those made by pro-market economists like Peter Bauer and, later, William Easterly.^[21] The Financial Times summarized the book's argument: "Limitless development assistance to African governments, she argues, has fostered dependency, encouraged corruption and ultimately perpetuated poor governance and poverty."^[22] She argues that foreign aid helps perpetuate the cycle of poverty and hinders economic growth in Africa. She also suggests phasing out foreign government aid to Africa within five years as key to lifting African nations from poverty.^[23]

Harvard professor and historian Niall Ferguson has written the foreword to Dead Aid. Quotes by the Chairman and CEO of Forbes, Steve Forbes, appear on the book jacket as well as by former United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan who says "Dambisa Moyo makes a compelling case for a new approach to Africa". Her book is dedicated to late developmental economist Peter Thomas Bauer.^[24]

Moyo's ideas are similar to those held by the Rwandan Government and President Paul Kagame. He says that "Dead Aid has given us an accurate evaluation of the aid culture today"^[25]. Kagame also invited Moyo to Rwanda to discuss her thesis and bought copies of the book for his entire cabinet.^[21][26] The President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade has also expressed similar views on aid^[21].

The Cato Institute say that "no individual today is more effectively challenging the foreign aid establishment and the harm it inflicts on Africa than Dambisa Moyo"^[27].

Columbia University professor and economist Jeffrey Sachs has said more foreign aid is needed to improve conditions for Africa.^[28] In response, Moyo points out that when Sachs was her lecturer at Harvard it was he himself who taught that "the path to long-term development would only be achieved through private sector involvement and free market solutions".^[29]

In March 2009, the advocacy organization ONE (co-founded by Bono) launched a campaign against her book, claiming that Dead Aid was "reckless" and that it called to "cut-off all aid".^[30] Moyo points out in a number of interviews that this is a misrepresentation of her ideas^[31]. and the Financial Times notes that ONE's campaign "at least partially backfired".^[22]

In a book review, The Economist reported that "Ms Moyo shows how some countries, such as Ghana, have successfully tapped the bond markets for funds. She also has good discussions on the virtues of microfinance, venture capital and liberalising trade. By concentrating on these three, African governments might well raise more money on their own; some might even lessen their dependency on aid." ^[32]

[edit] How The West Was Lost

Moyo’s second book entitled How the West Was Lost: Facing Up to America’s Economic Decline and the Threat of China and the Rising Rest is scheduled for publication with Penguin and Farrar, Straus & Giroux in Spring 2010. The book evaluates the policy decisions in the US and other Western economies that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis and examines the policies of the newest economic powers—China, Russia and the Middle East—who may now be in pole positions to become the dominant economic players of the 21st century.

[edit] Financial Journals

Moyo is a frequent contributor to financial journals such as The Economist^[33] and Financial Times^[34].

• The Economist (Nov 13th 2009): "The lure of Africa: Bond markets will discover its attractions"^[35]
• Financial Times (Jun 1st 2009): "Little appetite to question the aid-based status quo"^[36]
• Foreign Policy (Apr 21st 2009): "The Next Big Thing: Africa"^[37]
• Wall Street Journal (Mar 21st 2009): "Why Foreign Aid Is Hurting Africa"^[38]
• The Guardian (Feb 26th 2009): "Capitalism for Africa"^[39]

[edit] Publications

• Moyo, Dambisa (2009). Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0374139563. 

[edit] References

This article uses bare URLs. Please help improve this article by turning bare URLs into proper citations containing all of the information on the referenced work's title, date, publisher, publication, and author, so that the article remains verifiable in the future. (There are several templates available that can help to make formatting such citations simple.) This page may also be able to help find problematic links. (September 2009)

[edit] External links

• dambisamoyo.com, Moyo's official website
• Facebook Fan page, Moyo's official Facebook fan page
• Jake Whitney in Guernica Magazine interviews Moyo
• "Africa with Dambisa Moyo" link to Uncommon Knowledge interview filmed 12 June 2009
• Dambisa Moyo on Twitter