How to increase aid effectiveness?

The U.K.’s DFID and the finance ministers of Burkina Faso and Tanzania were recently asked how they would increase aid effectiveness.

DFID favors greater country ownership:

…the most promising path to better aid is a “country-led” approach, in which governments of developing countries themselves define and lead the poverty reduction agenda.

Mr. Comparé (Burkina Faso) believes strengthening capacity is key:

The main difficulty… is persistently low absorption capacity for externally finance projects, with only about 70 percent of money committed by donors getting effectively disbursed.

While Mr. Mramba (Tanzania) touts ‘smart’ partnerships that:

…better coordinate and harmonize [donor] support and align it with national priorities and government systems and procedures.

For a summary of the many issues involved see Peter Heller on Making Aid Work or this World Bank reading list.