DANMARKS INDSAMLING

Today is Danmark's Indsamling ("Denmark's collection") for Africa. Celebrities compete with each other in order to get Danes to spend money, man the telephone banks to take their offerings, and do all sorts of worthy things in order to raise money for Africa. The total will come to more than kr.100 million, which will then be channelled through twelve of the country's biggest charities to needy people and places in Africa.

A great idea. So why does it annoy me? The main reason is that, unlike most of the people involved above, I have actually lived in Africa, eighteen months in Lesotho and eight years in Tanzania. As such, I have seen literally hundreds of well-meaning aid projects provided by rich country Governments and citizens. They all had worthy aims, they all wanted to make things better; but the vast majority of them were an utter waste of time.

It's not a question of whether kr.100 million will do some good; if you have that amount of money, it's hard not to do some good, even if you are a complete idiot. Rather the question is whether this is the best way to improve the livelihoods of poor people in a poor continent. Based on my direct experiences, I would say "definitely not". This weekend's activities will make Danes feel better about themselves; sadly, they will not do much to make Africa a better place.

Not the message being massively broadcast over the airwaves this evening. But don't worry, I suspect that this weekend, Denmark will not be listening to what I think.

Walter Blotscher