THE TRANSFER OF WEALTH FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH/107year), their annual income would total some S220 billion. They
would send between S40 and 50 billion to their countries of origin,
the UNDP calculates that after five years such remittances could
reach a total of at least S200 billion per year (UNDP, 1992).
The UNDP rightly points out that the effects of these losses are
cumulative, given that the cost of opportunities denied in the present
increases with time.
Who are the Real Beneficiaries of Official Development
Assistance (ODA)?
The share of ODA that remains in developing countries is very
small. Almost all the money provided quickly returns to rich
countries in exchange for products purchased from them.
(Robert McNamara, president of the World Bank,
extract from speech given to World Bank governors,
30 September 1968; McNamara, 1973)'Official Development Assistance' is made up of the grants and soft
loans (at favourable rates) provided by the public bodies of the OECD
and OPEC. It is sufficient for a loan to be made at below market rates
for it to be seen as assistance, even if every cent is paid back by the
borrower country.
Apart from food aid, there are three major categories towards
which such funds are directed: rural development, infrastructure and
non-project aid (financing for the budget deficit or balance of
payments of the assisted country). Non-project aid has been rising
fastest in recent years.
This aid is made conditional upon the reduction of the public
deficit, privatisation, ecological good conduct, policies aimed at the
poorest sectors of the population and democratisation, among other
things. All such conditions are laid down by the North's main
governments and the World Bank-IMF. They have a rather ques
tionable way of measuring democratisation and the fight against
poverty.
Aid is provided through three different channels: 22 per cent
comes in the form of multilateral aid (from international organisa
tions), 64 per cent is bilateral aid (from 'donor' countries) and 14 per
cent comes from NGOs.