Archive / Working Paper
The impact of aid policies on domestic democratisation processes: the case of Mali
28/04/2008 By Hamidou Magassa, Stefan Meyer
Since 1999, Mali has been a laboratory for aid harmonisation. It has been more a testing ground than a leading actor. Many coordination initiatives have failed, and high hopes are put on the new structures arising from the local adaptation of the Paris Declaration.
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Mali brings together the formal features that often trigger an influx of aid: democratic governance and high poverty rates. This report exposes three unconnected worlds, labelling them "theatre", "bureaucracy" and "village".
The presidential discourse – "the theatre" – is both useful in attracting aid and serving electoral purposes of political marketing. It does not, however, concern itself with the measurability of action and does not yet effectively take on the role of coordinator between implementing ministries.
The donors – "the bureaucracy" – are busy inventing coordination structures and programmes for service delivery and institution building. Bearing the pressure of disbursement and the costs of coordination, they mostly work with the executive and are deeply immersed in the core functions of statehood, such as financial management, public services and decentralisation. They remain rather shy when it comes to domestic politics that go beyond Western blueprints of "civil society", however.
The third arena – "the village" – remains disconnected from the above worlds. Decentralisation has not yet reached the areas beyond Bamako and the main regional cities. The development policies seem to be dictated by donors. However, on a second level, when it comes to implementation, Malian actors reinterpret the guidelines, thus establishing a kind of "subversive ownership".
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Keywords
Aid effectiveness Democratisation Development aid Harmonization Mali West AfricaRelated publications
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Bio author: Hamidou Magassa
Hamidou Magassa is senior socio-economic consultant on rural development at SERNES.
Bio author: Stefan Meyer
Stefan Meyer is a Political Scientist (FU Berlin) and holds a Masters degree from the IDS in Brighton, UK. He worked as a consultant on aid instruments and in conflict impact assessment for a number of NGOs and for the German Development Cooperation (GTZ and KfW).
