"It was impossible to be in Dar es Salaam and not meet foreigners attempting to solve Tanzania's problems. What struck me was the modest size of the efforts. No one was handing out large amounts of money anymore. This was mainly "microfinance," a popular term for a popular activity. One American man I met was doling out loans of $200 to $500, to be repaid in a relatively short time.
"I say to them, 'Don't think about another donor. We're going to get you on your feet. We're the last donor you will ever need.'"
"Do you believe that?"
He laughed and said that Africans were "grant savvy." They were so used to getting grants, they were aware that the money would dry up in three to five years and assumed that they would have to look elsewhere for more money for their plans: small-scale milk processing, retail shops, women's marketing projects.
"Maybe we're wasting our money, but it's not much money," the American said.
. . . . So many donors had been burned in Tanzania that some grants were hard to come by -- so people told me. Tanzanians might insist that the need for money was urgent, but donors could point out the visible fact that the enormous amounts that had been handed out in the past had done little good."