r/technology • u/lurker_bee • 23h ago

Biotechnology Burkina Faso says no to Bill Gates’ plan of creating modified species of mosquitoes

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/burkina-faso-says-no-to-bill-gates-plan-of-creating-modified-species-of-mosquitoes/xyk7xm8
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u/DevilishlyAdvocating 20h ago

Altruism aside, aide can be problematic by giving developing nations a crutch that prevents them from developing the skills, economy or infrastructure to provide for themselves.

No opinion on this particular case but that can be the tradeoff of the "free lunch".

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u/Lonyo 14h ago

Trying to deal with malaria isn't exactly a crutch.

Polio was almost eradicated by concerned global effort. Smallpox was eradicated

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u/DevilishlyAdvocating 9h ago

It's a fair point, like I said I'm not commenting on this specific issue, moreso responding to:

Are you confused what a philanthropist is?

Since that is a flawed argument in this space.

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u/ABHOR_pod 13h ago

I mean, sure. That might be true for many things like donating clothing or building roads or whatever.

I don't think there's a local industry for curing malaria in Burkina Faso. Might be an industry in treating the symptoms, but "Curing an endemic disease that has killed more humans than literally any other cause in history, for millennia." isn't exactly a local industry kind of endeavor. It's also not exactly something the free market is champing at the bit to solve.

I don't think that specific argument applies to the Gates foundation.

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u/MrAngryBeards 20h ago

Also you really have to fully ignore the history of Africa to not see why one would be resistant to foreign aid, especially from ultra rich people from the US

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u/DevilishlyAdvocating 20h ago

Exactly. Just because Gates might not get anything out of it doesn't mean it's a total benefit without tradeoffs. Extremely ignorant to suggest otherwise.

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u/MrAngryBeards 19h ago

Under these circumstances, even some perfectly spotless no-strings attached aid could still be non-ideal in the long run. A lot of African countries have no proprietary solution to some of the issues they face, because foreign aid most often comes in the shape of band-aid solutions. Rarely do they make direct injection of money into government projects. When that occasionally happen, it's not no-strings-attached.

I don't entertain the thought too much because it really ruins my day but it's not hard to see why so many critics see the Gates Foundation as just a tax write-off scheme. Bill Gates is literally worth more money now than he was when he co-founded the giving pledge, even with all the hundreds of aid programs across Africa over however many years.

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u/ThroawayJimilyJones 19h ago

Maybe because nobody would be stupid enough to put money in a government project, when the said governement has high level of corruption and constant power fight?

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u/MrAngryBeards 19h ago

You don't have to inject money directly into the government. Ask for a plan, check the service providers involved, pay them directly, follow the development of the project. It's possible to help while being truthfully supportive instead of patronizing

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u/Moifaso 17h ago

I'm sorry this argument is just insane in context

You know what famously is also a massive hindrance to development? Malaria.

More than half of BK's population are minors and half the country is under jihadist control. They have bigger fish to fry with their very limited resources than trying to homegrow an inferior malaria intervention.