Global Development: Views from the Center

This is a joint post with Stephanie Majerowicz

Scott Fellow Idella Cooper 2nd from right

When in Liberia last February, we kept running into dynamic young Liberians with American accents in high-powered jobs. They also seemed to have something else in common. Idella Cooper, the newly-appointed Deputy Justice Minister, had returned to her home country first as a Scott Fellow. Gyude Moore, President Sirleaf’s deputy chief of staff and head of the President’s special Program Delivery Unit, is a Georgetown grad and former Scott Fellow. The Scott Fellows, literally, seemed to be everywhere.

CGD had the honor and privilege of hosting Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf—the first elected female head of state in Africa—on June 23.  At the event, President Sirleaf set a hugely ambitious goal of being aid-free within ten years. Given that aid currently accounts for more than half of GDP, this would imply serious increases in other sources of revenues, but it’s a well-calibrated message both to Congress and to audiences back home.

The global economic crisis presents a challenge and an opportunity to do better with U.S. assistance to Africa said CGD senior fellow Steve Radelet in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health last week. Not surprisingly, doing better in Africa requires the same steps towards broad U.S.

McNealy arrived late, delayed by a meeting at the Pentagon. You could tell he was tired. He’d flown to DC from California with a stopover in Dallas where he stayed up late watching hockey as his beloved San Jose Sharks fell to the Stars in the 4th overtime. Nonetheless, by the time lunch was finished at 1:30pm we had made good progress answering moderator Lawrence MacDonald’s query – does sharing and openness really matter for development?