Todd Moss

 
Todd Moss
Profile
Todd Moss is Senior Fellow and Director of The Emerging Africa Project. He returns to the Center after serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from May 2007 to October 2008. Todd’s work focuses on U.S.-Africa relations and financial issues facing sub-Saharan Africa, including policies that affect private capital flows, debt, and aid. He also worked on the economic crisis in Zimbabwe and led the Center's work on Nigerian debt, the African Development Bank and the IDA-15 replenishment round.


Full Bio
http://www.cgdev.org/content/expert/detail/2713/

Posts:

 

January 28, 2010

One More (Insurmountable?) Challenge for Haitian Reconstruction

By Todd Moss

As the international response to Haiti’s earthquake shifts from emergency rescue to longer term reconstruction, things are inevitably going to get harder. There are some very good ideas floating out there, not least Michael Clemens’ golden door visa proposal and Jeff Sachs’ urging for a recovery trust fund (It’s too bad he couldn’t resist swathing the idea in jabs at the donors and the United States). But as the donor community starts making that shift and planning projects, Joshua Nadel, a professor of Caribbean history, has this very good reminder: Read More…

3 Comments »

 

January 5, 2010

After the Plane Bomber, Where in the World is Nigeria’s President?

By Todd Moss

This entry was also posted on the Huffington Post, AllAfrica, and Sahara Reporters.

Umaru Yar’AduaAmid all the media frenzy around the Nigerian underwear bomber and how America should have stopped him before he tried to blow up a passenger plane on Christmas Day, a critical piece to the counter-terrorism puzzle seems to have been missed: where in the world is the Nigerian President? Read More…

14 Comments »

 

December 21, 2009

The Development-Counterterrorism Front: Mali

By Todd Moss

If you are looking for a microcosm of the U.S. struggle to fight extremism with a development face, look no further than Mali. Karin Brulliard’s excellent piece in today’s Washington Post (Africa on the front page!) explains the context just right: a poor country, long a crossroads of different cultures welcomed by tolerant Islam, is facing new pressures from foreign influences, including spillover from internal Algerian strife. The U.S. is trying to build Malian capacity to contain terrorist groups and also to promote development as a deterrent to the lure of recruiters. But, as Brulliard hints, we don’t really know how well we are doing, nor whether our efforts are misdirected. This is an issue we at CGD will be looking at more closely over the next few months: how does development fit within a counter-terrorism strategy? Read More…

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December 16, 2009

Views from Tunis: The African Development Bank’s New Blog

By Todd Moss

Kudos to our friends at the African Development Bank for their recent launching of a new blog, Building Africa Today. So far it is providing regular updates of African currencies, stock markets, commodities, and other data relevant to those following economic trends on the continent. Any quick scan of the blog also shows that this is not your father’s AfDB of the 1980s: the blog and the Bank are both heavily focused on private sector activity. Read More…

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December 4, 2009

What Will Happen to British Development Policy If (When) the Tories Win Next Year?

By Todd Moss

In the UK, the Conservative Party is leading soundly in the polls and appears likely headed to win elections sometime next spring. What would a David Cameron-led government mean for British development policy–and especially the future of DFID?

We got a window into what may happen yesterday when we hosted Andrew Mitchell, the shadow secretary of state for international development, ostensibly the man in line to take over DFID if there is indeed a change in government. Mitchell’s pithy and energetic speech was largely based on the party’s “green paper” which lays out its own strategy to fight global poverty. The Tory plans include many elements that you would expect from the party of John Major and Margaret Thatcher: emphasis on taxpayer value, promotion of the private sector, and more reliance on the market. (My favorite line from the exec summary: “We bring a natural scepticism about government schemes.”). But here are my main take-aways, which include some surprises: Read More…

3 Comments »

 

December 1, 2009

What to Do with USAID? Lessons from Kabul

By Todd Moss

Very interesting op-ed in Sunday’s WashPost on U.S. efforts to promote health care in Afghanistan that cuts to the heart of the debate over integrating development into U.S. foreign policy. The authors, two noted health experts, claim that American programs have done immediate good: up to 100,000 infants and children have been saved from early death this year alone. Perhaps more importantly for the long-term:

These initiatives have strengthened the foundations of a state that can serve its people. Rather than providing or contracting for services directly, USAID, the World Bank and the European Commission have strengthened the capacity of the Ministry of Public Health to develop and implement health policies, oversee programs, manage resources, engage communities and control the delivery of services.

But they warn:

Unfortunately, such work for Afghanistan’s future is at risk. In an effort to win over populations in Taliban-controlled areas, the Obama administration is considering reducing overall funding for USAID health programs and concentrating development resources to support military operations. This means moving funds to certain geographic areas and emphasizing immediate results. Yet there is no evidence that expensive “quick impact” health projects that are not integrated into a larger strategy, or that do not actively engage locals, either contribute to security or wean populations from the enemy.

And the real kicker:

If the Obama administration is serious about supporting the emergence of a legitimate Afghan state and meeting the needs of people who have suffered for decades, it should not confuse health policy with military strategy.

This story encapsulates the current debate and all the underlying tensions over what to do with USAID (autonomous cabinet agency? More integrated into State? Subsumed into DoD?) My own view is that long-term “institution building” is always going to get crowded out by shorter-term security and diplomatic demands. It seems unrealistic to ever expect USAID to try to resist this or to be able to do both well, no matter what kind of beautiful restructuring we do or how much cover the White House thinks it can provide. To me, it would appear much better to recognize this and just have cleaner lines of responsibilities: let USAID do humanitarian, post-conflict, and other emergency assistance; State can handle counterterrorism, diplomatic bribery, etc.; and leave the long-term stuff that you want to insulate strictly to MCC and the multilaterals, especially the World Bank. Perhaps this is also too naïve?

1 Comment »

 

November 24, 2009

Cash for Poor Countries, or Another Round of Subprime Lending?

By Todd Moss

This is a joint post with Benjamin Leo.

A special new lending facility was announced in July 2009 with the objective of providing up to $17 billion in new loans through 2014 and, to entice cash-strapped borrowers, the lender is waiving interest payments for the first two years.  This may sound like dangerous new short-term teaser offers for sub-prime borrowers.  But this isn’t coming from Countrywide Financial.  It actually is a new IMF facility for low-income countries, including some of heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) who are just barely coming out of the last debt crisis.

The stated objectives of the new IMF facility are laudable:  to offset the effects of the global economic crisis by boosting international reserves and supporting adjustment policies.  And yes, the overall terms are more concessional than past IMF loans.  Nonetheless, the net impact on national debt levels may be significant.  And it was just four years ago that the IMF committed to cancel roughly $6 billion in bad loans to many of these very same countries.
Read More…

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November 17, 2009

A Question for Raj Shah: How to bring Order to U.S. Support for Business Climate Reforms?

By Todd Moss

Given his background, Raj Shah is well placed to lead U.S. development efforts in the already-big areas of global health and agriculture. But I hope that a small portion of his attention can bring some strategic focus to another set of issues that may be even more critical to the long-term fight against poverty: business climate reforms. Read More…

1 Comment »

 

September 30, 2009

The U.S. Dilemma over How to Help Zimbabwe: Some Ideas from My Congressional Testimony

By Todd Moss

Todd MossZimbabwe is not only a problem for all of Africa, it’s a vexing dilemma for U.S policymakers. Some facts:

  • Morgan Tsvangirai won the March 2008 elections and should rightfully be president
  • Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai are now partners in a shaky unity government forced on them (but not really enforced) by their neighbors
  • Mugabe’s men, responsible for the vicious campaign of violence and for destroying the economy, are still in positions of power
  • The deeply flawed unity government has, despite itself, made some real progress and for now is the only game in town Read More…

7 Comments »

 

August 12, 2009

Despite Obama in Ghana, a Bad Month for African Democracy

By Todd Moss

President Obama’s trip to Ghana was a celebration of African democracy. Similarly, Secretary Clinton’s ongoing 7-country, 11-day trek across the continent will hit the democracy promotion theme, especially during her stop today in Nigeria.

But it’s hardly been a good month for democracy in Africa: Read More…

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July 31, 2009

What Can Africa Hope For During Clinton Visit?

By Todd Moss

This blog also appeared on the Huffington Post
Map of Africa
Secretary Clinton will be leaving August 5 for a seven-country tour of Africa. She will hit Kenya, South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia, and Cape Verde. (Whew!) The itinerary suggests that the theme of the trip will be more real politik than President Obama’s recent visit to Ghana which stressed good governance and was a celebration of Ghana’s recent electoral and economic successes. The Secretary, in choosing the largest economies and the continent’s most influential capitals, is likely to highlight more traditional U.S. economic and security interests. A few thoughts on what to expect — and what Africa can hope for: Read More…

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July 13, 2009

A New (and Optimistic) Open Book: Kenny’s Success of Development

By Todd Moss

Our friend and colleague Charles Kenny has taken a leap into the world of Open Book Blogging, with his excellent early draft of The Success of Development. Like my CGD colleague David Roodman, who is writing a book on microfinance through a similar format, this is a brave venture to put draft work up for all to see—and criticize. But then that’s precisely the point. Read More…

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July 6, 2009

Obama Right to Highlight Ghana’s Success, But Will Oil Be the Spoiler?

By Todd Moss

plowingaheadPresident Obama’s first visit to Africa will be to Ghana. This is no surprise: Ghana is a close U.S. ally and has been in many ways a model of both political and economic reform. Its track record over the last twenty years: five successive democratic elections, two peaceful transitions of power between parties, sustained high rates of economic growth, and a healthy reduction in poverty rates. Read More…

6 Comments »

 

June 9, 2009

What Would Barack Obama Be Like If He Was Still President in 2051? Ask Gabon

By Todd Moss

What would Barack Obama be like if he was still president in 2051? We would expect that despite whatever initial good intentions, that four decades in power would inevitably give way to entrenched corruption, mindless sycophancy, and probably destroy our democracy. Such an outcome is not only barred by the U.S. constitution, but sounds like an absurd question today. Read More…

1 Comment »

 

April 22, 2009

The Media Blitz of Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid is Far from Dead

By Todd Moss

I had the privilege of speaking at Dambisa Moyo’s first Washington DC event, held recently at the Cato Institute (watch the webcast here). Her book Dead Aid is a full-frontal attack on aid to Africa (and has attracted an extraordinary amount of media attention). As much of my own work has been highly critical of the aid business, it was somewhat unusual (and a little awkward) to find myself mostly defending foreign aid. While I disagree with her characterization and have several major problems with the book, I do believe her frustration is both genuine and widely held across Africa. For no other reason than this, it should not be dismissed, as some reviewers have tried to do. Read More…

1 Comment »

 

March 25, 2009

No “Reset” Button for South Africa Either

By Todd Moss

Anne Applebaum’s op-ed today is a reminder that just having a new U.S. administration with a boatload of goodwill won’t necessarily deal with underlying policy differences in our foreign relations, hokey plastic “reset” buttons aside. Applebaum was referring to Russia, but this seems to apply equally to South Africa. One of the first tasks of the new Africa team at the State Department (Ambassador Johnnie Carson was nominated to be Assistant Secretary this week) will be to try to rebuild the relationship with the continent’s largest regional power. While America has built solid partnerships with many African nations, relations with South Africa are deeply fraught. Read More…

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February 2, 2009

Albert Einstein, Zimbabwe’s Well-Suited Snakes, and New Depths of Futility!

By Todd Moss

Yes, yes, there is finally agreement on Morgan Tsvangirai joining the national unity government in Zimbabwe. But before anyone gets their hopes up too far, let’s remember what Robert Mugabe did immediately after signing the power-sharing deal last September: grabbed all the meaningful cabinet posts, blocked Tsvangirai from travelling, and launched a new campaign of violence and kidnapping against human rights activists. Why should SADC – or anyone – expect things to be different this time around?

Read More…

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January 15, 2009

Advice to Obama’s Africa Team: Don’t Change Too Much

By Todd Moss

The following commentary originally appeared on the impressive new global news site, GlobalPost
The world has colossal expectations for incoming President Barack Obama and for changes in U.S. foreign policy. However, the new administration’s approach to Africa will almost certainly be marked more by continuity than change. And that’s good news for Africa — and America.

Read More…

2 Comments »

 

January 8, 2009

Memo to President-Elect Obama: Three Steps for Restoring Democracy to Zimbabwe

By Todd Moss

Robert MugabeZimbabwe’s descent from a hopeful and emerging economic power into today’s disaster is one of Africa’s saddest cases. (An excellent oped in today’s Washington Post explains the collapse of its medical and sanitation system. I’ve blogged here about the absurdities of the local currency). This is especially heartbreaking for those of us who have lived in the country before things turned so dire and could see and just feel the potential of such a wonderful country. (I was first in Zim as an exchange student with the School for International Training and returned in the early 1990s to work with an NGO. SIT has of course been forced to shut down its Harare program.)

Read More…

8 Comments »

 

January 7, 2009

The Other Inauguration to be Celebrated

By Todd Moss

Ghana's Flag
While much of the world’s attention is on the January 20th inauguration of Barack Obama, there is another presidential inauguration happening TODAY that we should be celebrating: that of Ghana’s John Atta Mills. Mills, formerly vice president and a tax law professor (and a fellow SOAS alum), is well respected and seems — like his opponent, the narrowly defeated Nana Akuffo-Addo — a good choice for a great country. However, the reason to celebrate today is not his victory per se, but rather the remarkable success of Ghana’s democracy.

Read More…

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