I'm always ready to pile on any criticism of St. Oprah and Lady Madonna!
All in all, despite their perhaps good intentions -- and acknowledging their tendency to self-aggrandizement -- "celebrity saviors" are probably a net negative for international development efforts, really misrepresenting to the public what effective aid is about.
In fact, studies show that "flies in the eyes" imagery of developing nations actually turns Western people off to supporting aid efforts.
Such stereotypical imagery, as African journalist and TED talker Andrew Mwenda notes, also scares away business:
Thus, as a result of these campaigns, our continent tends to attract the most compassionate people of the West who come to give charity. However, its negative side effect is to scare away the most enterprising people of the West who would bring capital to invest and make money. Even when they do try to do something in Africa, like Bill Gates has done through his foundation, they come as merchants of charity, not enterprise.
By Andrew M. Mwenda
April 17, 2013 | CNN
