history moves in circles, the return of colonialism

history moves in circles, the return of colonialism. its been pretty obvious that there's a new generation of development and it's focus is africa. at every footstep there's a new foreign organization popping up in a developing country. now don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful thing. people are truly starting to think globally. my problem comes in if you take a deeper look at it. lets focus on africa as an example, since this is where i am:

1. i have read a number of articles lately that elude to ulterior US motives through their investment and quest to help africa. take the new US army command for africa (africom) for example (check out the article) or the millennium challenge corporation's (MCC) controversy in namibia (check out the article). these two examples all involve suspicion of US seeking ownership of africa's assets and resources. now i'm not saying that there's any truth to these claims, i'm also not saying that there isn't. but my logical self does think that for these suspicions to exist, there must be some truth to it. judge for yourself, but be informed and don't take things at face value.

2. generally referring to international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), there are some discrepancies in logic there too. no doubt these are organizations and individuals that want to help and are humanitarian minded. my question is: when all these organizations say their 'field staff' (meaning their staff in the developing countries) are 80% or 90% local, why is that all the top management is foreign? the goal of these organizations is development and by development we are talking about sustainable development. if all of these organizations had to pull out today, would their work be carried on? come on, the answer is no. there are no proper mechanisms in place. i will say there are a very select few which are an exception, very select few. the question i'm always asked (since i've been here) is: if millions of dollars at a time are being pored into africa through these NGOs, where is it? how come we don't see it? lets face it, a good number of the high management of these NGOs are living the good life off the strength of the cause. through the operational and bureaucratic costs, the money that is received never touches the person that very much needs it.

please feel free to let me know if i'm wrong.

ps- kudos to ms. acosta for the inspiration.