Aid has had several negative consequences in Africa. It has groomed a rapacious group of political elites, encouraged irresponsible governance, and institutionalised corruption. In one of the notable tales of how corruption, irresponsible governance, and aid are tied, former president of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko, was said to have successfully negotiated an aid package and immediately hired a Concorde to fly his daughter for her wedding in Ivory Coast. Mobutu stole more than $5 billion dollars, an amount equivalent to the entire external debt of his country even as his countrymen remained some of the poorest people on earth.

Even with humanitarian aid, which is often less controversial than development aid, there are several examples where the mismanagement of humanitarian aid has contributed to greater insecurity on the continent. For instance, the role that humanitarian aid played in sustaining the activities of Biafran soldiers during the Civil War cannot be overlooked. Neither can we gloss over the fact that thousands of people died after the Ethiopian government used internationally donated food aid as a weapon of war to expand its territorial control following one of the most successful humanitarian campaigns in history in response to the famine in 1985. In Somalia, food aid did little of what it was intended except to prop up rebel groups who stole donated food aid and resold same items at prohibitive prices in UN camps. Outside of Africa, we have also seen how aid can undermine local production. In Haiti, the massive influx of food aid after the 2010 earthquake resulted in the collapse of the local price of rice and further plunged Haitian rice farmers into poverty.

If aid is not the answer, then what is? Trade is. Currently, Africa’s share of global trade with its 1.2 billion people stands at about 3% while the United Kingdom, a country of only 65 million people accounts for 3.6% of global exports. However, if Africa is to increase its share of global trade and consequently trade itself out of poverty, it would require among other things the willingness of developed countries to reduce tariffs on exports from the continent and to end the protectionism that gives unfair advantage to their local farmers. Why is this important? Wealthy nations currently subsidise their local farmers by more than $300 billion annually. This is more than two times the total amount of aid that Africa receives annually. Indeed, some of that aid comes to the continent in the form of food items bought from heavily subsidised western farmers. To further compound the problem, in some instances, the influx of food items drives down local prices and deepens the poverty of local producers. It appears self-evident then that the continent would benefit more from policy decisions that improve access for Africa’s agricultural products than a continuation of an aid regime that has the capacity to undermine local stability.

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Of course, there are other complexities that limit Africa’s capacity to export its products and to break into western markets beyond the protectionist policies of wealthy nations. One of such is the stringency of food standards. Evidently, no one will suggest that developed countries limit their standards in order to increase import from the continent, however, one can propose closer partnership that allows for the improvement of technical competence in meeting desired food standards. That said, I would insist that it is also the responsibility of African states to invest in the infrastructure that improves local production to meet global standards.

Efforts to see a continent less reliant on international aid would be helped by policies such as America’s Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). The trade legislation which was enacted in 2000 by president George Bush is a trade preference program that allows thousands of products to enter the United States duty free. The act was extended to 2025 during the Obama regime. African states must take greater opportunity of AGOA. At the same time, it would be of great benefit, if similar policies that provide duty free access to markets are enacted by other leading global economies at bilateral or multilateral levels.

Additionally, African states must remove barriers to the movement of goods and services on the continent. Intraregional trade is unacceptably low. Compared to Europe, for instance, where 67% of its total trade is among states within the region, Africa’s intraregional trade stands at 15%.  Clearly, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would improve this statistics in the future, but there needs to be an urgent acceleration of policies that target barriers to trade within the continent. One of such is the ability of Africans to move with less hindrances on the continent. It should not be more difficult to fly from Nairobi to Maputo than to fly from Nairobi to Paris.

The consequences of inflexible visa regimes, poor flight connections, and exorbitant travel costs means that the continent is missing out on vast amounts of intraregional tourism that can boost local economies. As with many Africans, I have visited more countries in Europe, Asia and America than I have in Africa. One of the quick gains we can make is to liberalise visa regimes. Ghana has introduced policies to ensure that African citizens can travel to the country and obtain visas on arrival for tourism and business purposes. The rest of Africa must follow suit.

If Africa is to develop, we must focus our attention on the actions and policies we have control over rather than the handouts we have come to depend on from our foreign partners. We must advocate at the international level for a renegotiation, where necessary, on the agreements that hold us back and leaves us at a disadvantage. In instances where the pace of negotiations and reforms to global trade rules, like the Doha Development Round, are not yielding about the results we need, we must collectively shine a light on those issues. The world cannot say it is serious about Africa’s development agenda while it turns a blind eye to rules and practices that undermine the continent’s competitiveness. It is time to focus on what matters—trade and not aid.

• Adediran is an Assistant professor in International Relations at Liverpool Hope University. He can be contacted on: bolaadediran2020@yahoo.com