In other countries policies changed little or even got worse. The paper synthesizes the findings from ten case studies that investigate whether, when, and how foreign aid has affected economic policy in Africa. Most major reforms have been preceded by economic and political crises. Large amounts of aid to countries with bad policy sustain those poor policies. In general donors have not discriminated effectively among different countries and different phases of the reform process.
Donors tend to provide the same package of assistance everywhere and at all times.
It helped with ideas in the initial phase. Financial assistance grew as policy improved and increased the benefits of reform, helping sustain political support. The composition of aid is important. In the pre-reform period, technical assistance and policy dialogue are most supportive of reform. During periods of rapid reform, policy dialogue is important, as is finance.