Lifting Africa out of poverty: what Lomborg misses

Mathew Otieno

August 02, 2023 6 Reactions

In this particular case, we must note that Mr Lomborg’s work presumes that the proposed interventions can be implemented, and sustained, in the environments in which they are most needed. Needless to say, this isn’t always possible, even where the relevant parties have the best intentions. Often, much bigger problems, like insecurity and inadequate infrastructure, must be solved first before any strictly economic decisions can be made.

And while even the solutions to these problems can be quantified in economic terms – as was attempted, for instance, by Paul Collier in the Lomborg-curated 2007 book Solutions For The World's Biggest Problems – they are by no means purely economic. Often, they are driven, or significantly complicated, by ethical, historical, and sociological factors, whose solutions cannot, therefore, be merely economical.

Hurdles

Take, for instance, Somalia. Though eradicating tuberculosis in the country would unlock a tremendous amount of economic value, it cannot be done if a large chunk of its territory remains in the hands of an un-cooperative jihadist organisation. And, even were the murderous Al-Shabaab decide to let in healthcare professionals in a sustainable manner, the roads through which medicine and other interventions would be delivered would have to be built and maintained. Solving these problems, therefore, contribute to the eradication of tuberculosis, but it cannot be adequately accounted for on this ledger.

Furthermore, even assuming the best of conditions, there are always bound to be confounding factors. Besides, economics is hardly the only lens through which development should be seen. Sure, the best way to spend money is to wring all possible value out of it, and we should be sensible when trying to help the poor. But all value cannot, despite the best efforts of economists, be quantified entirely in economic terms.

Of course, this article by no means contends that Mr Lomborg’s ideas are faulty. Far from it. I think his corpus is among the most serious and sincere efforts to practically help the world’s poor. But even he acknowledges that there are limitations to his approach, including technical ones.

As he writes in the introduction to the aforementioned 2007 book, infrastructure, for instance, which undergirds practically all the other proposed solutions, is one of the areas that has received very little research, and so cannot benefit from his characteristically research-driven process.

This, instead, is a friendly nudge to be mindful of context. Economic policies must be made, but we must always remember that they act on people, and that people, who retain their eternal capacity to surprise, act back.

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Mathew Otieno is a Kenyan writer, blogger and dilettante farmer. Until 2022, he was a research communications coordinator at a university in Nairobi, Kenya. He now lives in rural western Kenya, near the shores of Lake Victoria, from where he's pursuing a career as a full-time writer while concluding his dissertation for a master's degree. His first novel is due out this year.

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