Missing millions

Here’s a strange story. And if you raise an eyebrow in scepticism let me at once assert that the source is reliable: The World Bank.

It is set in Kisangani, the comparatively large town which V S Naipaul used as the location for his book “A Bend in the River”. It is divided into two by the Congo River which is almost a kilometre wide at that point. So there’s a huge demand for ferries to take vehicles and passengers across.

In 2008 the European Union donated a car ferry to the government company that operates such ferries. The boat worked for about 18 months, and then its engine stopped working. The source doesn’t say what was wrong with the engine, (someone forgot to top us the oil??) but accepts that it needs to be replaced.

So now, the engineless vehicle ferry is tied to the pedestrian ferry and hobbles across on borrowed power.

The profits from the ferry crossing at present are between $120,000 and $300,000 a year (details are sketchy as books are not well kept), but with the vehicle ferry operating properly this could be doubled. But it remains as it is: a motorless shadow of its former self, waiting for someone (=European Union) to buy it a new engine. Meanwhile, where do all the receipts from the ferries go? Who knows.

Much the same happens in Kinshasa. The ferry boats between Kinshasa and Brazzaville earn a fortune: the World Bank reckons that their gross profit is around $2,000,000 a year. And where does the money go? One explanation is that they employ 12,500 people and have a similar number of pensioners to pay (the Kinshasa service is not their only operation, but no one could ever justify this number of employees).

Back to Kisangani. Why is the engine of the ferry not being replaced, when all it costs is $20,000, which could be recouped within one month of operations?

Unfortunately, the answer is all too clear. The European Union gave us the ferry, so it’s their job to mend it.

This is such a striking example of the dependency which aid in its current form has created. And let’s have no doubt about it: the dependency is encouraged by the recipients of the aid. The good bureaucrats of the Congo specialise in inventing reasons why nothing can be done unless more money is paid/more cars bought/ more computers donated etc. Many an aid agency in the Congo has been on the point of giving up as these demands mount up. I’ve previously mentioned the trick that bureaucrats have developed of demanding payment to attend official meetings – and, believe it or not, the UN agencies have gone along with that.

So the fault lies on both sides.

The African Development Bank has adopted another approach. We’ll give you money, but only after you’ve met our conditions (such as changing your policies, implemented the agreed projects, etc)

But to me the sad part is that the managers of these services appear not to be concerned about improving their service, and adopt a fatalistic view of management. If it has broken, so be it. We’ll manage somehow.

Is this the consequence of four decades of a kleptocratic dictatorship, aid agencies or something else?