TI: In a July BBC interview, you said, “If only foreign aid could be shifted from lining corrupt politicians’ and bureaucrats’ pockets to developing private enterprise, then Africa would have hope.” Could you explain this? Where do you think the money is going?

AM: Foreign aid is channelled by international financial institutions from the governments of the west to the governments of Africa, in the vain hope that African governments will then invest that aid in poverty reduction areas like infrastructure development, free education and free health. Actually, what happens in most African countries is that African politicians and bureaucrats steal that aid money. They exploit it as a political resource. My argument is that throwing good money at incompetent and corrupt politicians and bureaucrats is obviously not going to end poverty.

TI: Who do you think should be held accountable for ensuring this money goes to the right places? Should it be the donors’ responsibility to make sure it doesn’t line bureaucrats’ pockets?

AM: If foreign aid was channelled to private banks, providing long-term affordable financing for enterprise and investment in the export trade, then aid would have some benefits. It would recognise that often African economies lack long-term savings to finance long-term investment. Those investments can be two types: mortgage finance, and investment in export trade. So if aid was given to private banks, for commercial benefit, and the private banks lend it for mortgage finance and the development of a proper export industry, it would be more effective.

TI: What should Western governments be doing if not giving aid? Should they do anything at all?

AM: No, they shouldn’t. The problem for most of Africa is not a lack of resources. I have visited many African countries, and I have seen that if they were better managed and if their public expenditure priorities were more appropriate, they would have the necessary resources to focus on development. But aid is a subsidy for African government corruption and incompetence. It is not so much that these countries don’t have resources; it is that they mismanage available resources. Giving them aid is an incentive for them to continue mismanaging.

TI: You have said that you think the models for governance in Rwanda and Botswana are admirable. Why?

AM: In a country like Botswana, every shilling - every dollar - the government has is put to proper use, with proper methods of accountability. If you go to Rwanda, you will see a government committed to wiping out corruption. But not just corruption. In Rwanda, you see a clear and visible effort by the government to ensure that every dollar they have is spent on priority areas. Most African governments lose money through wastage.

As an example, the Ugandan health ministry has 3400 vehicles at its headquarters. But there are 961 dispensaries in Uganda, and none of them has an ambulance. This means that motor vehicles in Uganda are used by politicians and bureaucrats, but the people who are supposed to benefit do not have emergency medical transport. So it clearly shows that the money does not buy ambulances for the sick and dying in Uganda’s villages.

In Rwanda, politicians do not have expensive fringe benefits. The government is able to manage its resources very well. And do you know why? Because the most dominant influence in Rwanda’s ruling authorities is the Tutsis, an ethnic minority. They have to take visible actions that are seen as helping in the eyes of the majority that they are ruling. The second reason is that the price of failure for the government of Rwanda is very high. The price may be another genocide. So the government of Rwanda has a strong imperative for success.

TI: Do you think that countries that already have a transparent system of government in place should receive foreign aid?

AM: There you have hit the point. Although Rwanda has the correct environment for aid, aid brings serious economic problems. When you receive aid in dollars, the government must then print money, because the aid is spent in Rwandan currency. So aid then fuels inflation. The government must step in to remove the aid from the economy; they over-budget, discourage exports, put up interest rates, and drive the private sector out.

Although Rwanda should receive aid, most of it should not fund health and education and roads. It should instead finance investment in private sector factories. It must go directly to finance production of exports. Then you can solve the problem of aid and inflation.

TI: What is your view of the Africa Panel to monitor implementation of the G8’s Africa proposals? Will it have any practical benefit?

AM: Ultimately, if Africa is to get itself out of its misery, the initiative has to come from African leaders themselves, not from Tony Blair or Kofi Annan or anyone else. It must be in the self-interest of the political powers in Africa; it is their responsibility. The interests of Tony Blair, however high the engagement may be, are not in line with the political interests of African governments. So it is wrong for Blair to assume that they have a common interest.

Any attempts by Blair compound the problem. The problem is that African governments only want to survive, and the methods they employ to survive politically are economically destructive. In the long term, most African governments undermine the economic foundations of their own political survival. Aid is the money that actually props up African dictators. Aid is the subsidy they utilise. Once they have bankrupted their economy, they wait for Tony Blair to give them money, and steal aid to fund their lifestyles.

TI: You have expressed an interest in becoming Uganda’s president. If you were, would you refuse aid? What would you do to wipe out the culture of corruption in Uganda?

AM: If I became president, the first thing I would do with my government is pay back the aid. I would then limit aid to assisting long-term private enterprise. The private sector would become the source of revenue.

The most important instrument for reducing poverty is for countries to carve their way economically out of poverty. What Africa needs is not money. It needs the right institutions, and the right policies.

To achieve democracy you have to actively fight corruption. You want to know how I would fight corruption? Let’s look at Rwanda again. In Rwanda it’s not easy to be corrupt. If you steal, you are fired. If they can find the evidence, they will prosecute you in court. So in Rwanda, they have built a culture where the feeling among the public is that if you are corrupt, it is a stigma. If you are a corrupt politician in Rwanda, you are kicked out of office; even your own brother will not be seen with you. You will be socially alienated. Your friends will not want to be seen with you for a cup of tea or lunch, because you are a bad man.

But in some countries the corrupt are considered heroes. A person can steal and walk around holding his head high. There is no punishment for it. So I would ensure that there is ruthless punishment of the corrupt.