A Call for African Aid.(economist Jeffrey Sachs)(Brief Article)(Interview)

Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs made a name for himself tackling tough economic problems around the world. In the 1990s he advised Russia on how to move to a free market. He helped Mongolia to privatize a herd of 24 million yaks, and Bolivia to turn around its economy. In recent months Sachs has turned to a broader challenge: reviving the moribund economies of some of the world's most impoverished nations. Earlier this year Sachs agreed to take a post as an adviser to U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan on global poverty issues, and will leave Harvard to head Columbia's Earth Institute, where he hopes to bring scientists into development debates. Sachs spoke with NEWSWEEK's Adam Piore last week. Excerpts:

PIORE: U.S Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Bono the rock singer have been in the headlines visiting development projects in Africa. O'Neill has been quoted basically saying "This is a waste of money." Bono has looked at the same projects and said "This is great, we need more like it." You took Bono on his preparatory trip to find projects that were successful. Who's right?

SACHS: Of course Bono's right and Paul O'Neill's going to learn! I think the basic point that Bono was making is that we're going to have to put some effort into some of the extreme problems, like hunger, epidemics, that the two of them were seeing this week. We had hoped this could be done basically for free, that it was just a matter of African governments' governing themselves, focusing on corruption, reform... But O'Neill and Bono went to places like Ghana and Uganda-- places that are governing well but can't face these enormous problems on their own. It's what the Treasury secretary saw with his own eyes, and I know he was absolutely shocked. He went into a hospital ward and met people who were dying not because they have to be dying but because they couldn't afford drugs that cost about a dollar a day.

One thing we learned over the last 20 years is that traditional development recipes--focusing on market reform and good governance--are far from enough. Our approach is like telling a starving person to stand up and walk through the desert for 10 kilometers to get your food.

But what is your response to critics who say you can throw all the money you want at some of the problems in Africa and they won't go away?

I have studied these problems in more detail than any person on this planet in recent years and I know that the amounts of money going to fight AIDS, TB, to address hunger issues or ...