How to Manage an Aid Exit Strategy

After almost 40 years of development aid most commentators agree that aid as we know it has not worked. Aid fatigue is suffered on both the donor and recipient sides, with a wide divergence between those who call for a radical overhaul of aid delivery methods, those who advocate a complete end to development aid, and those who continually demand significant increases in aid flows.How to Manage an Aid Exit Strategy provides a refreshing insightful and comprehensive analysis of how an exit may actually be possible - drawing on real experience and as such supplying a simple summary of recommended policy steps. The author thoroughly reviews the functions of capital markets, aid for trade, regional integration and microfinance and a host of other solutions that have been proposed - arguing that an exit strategy for both donors and the Least Developed Countries will have to consider the optimal combination of these specific initiatives which will best satisfy the necessity of development and at the same time solve the problems which have been identified with conventional aid.

Derek Fee used to be the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Union to Zambia and COMESA. He is also an associate lecturer in Development Studies at the Open University Business School.