McClatchy Washington Bureau: Ghana could mark turning point in foreign aid program
ACCRA, Ghana – Last summer, when two American foreign aid experts visited this bustling capital for meetings about a new U.S. government aid grant, they were surprised to be invited to speak on a popular drive-time radio show.
"Who would want to listen to us?" they remembered thinking.
More than a few people, it turned out. Callers inundated the station, wanting to know exactly how the five-year, $547 million grant for agricultural development, part of a Bush administration foreign aid initiative, would be spent and who would spend it. People sent long, multipart text messages to comment on everything from Ghana's struggling farm sector to the spotted history of foreign aid in Africa.
That sort of vibrant public debate is part of what makes Ghana, with its change-minded government and robust economy, a haven of stability in turbulent West Africa. But its people are still very poor, and its lush landscape is dotted with aging roads and derelict power plants. …
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