Too Much Aid Not Enough Self Reliance

The G9 economic summit meeting on Africa a few weeks ago in Novemeber of 2006 was interesting to me, so here I go with my opinions. The concept of the wealthy nations giving money to poorer ones (in this case, African nations) is not a new one.
The poverty rate in some sub Saharan african nations is abysmal. In Niger (mostly as desert country) for instance, most of the 11 million people live on one dollar a day. About 40% are underfed or starving and one of 5 Nigerians dies before the age of five. When you add weather problems and insect invasions some people there are too exhausted to even wipe the flies from their faces.
And what has been the response to help Nigerians and other African poor? It has been to raise relief money privately, donations from nations, excusal of the country's debt, relief of food and supplies, all the things that the powers at that economic summit on Africa vowed they will now do more of. But is this the right approach to saving the starving and impoverished people who live there?
Not all economists agree it is. In fact, one of them, James Shikall, thinks that the aid only makes things worse for poor nations. "When aid money keeps coming, all our policy-makers do is strategize on how to get more, said the Kenyan economist and director of the Region Economic Network. "They forget about their own people working to solve these very basic problems. In Africa, we look to outsiders to solve our problems, making the victim not take responsibility to change."
I remember the farce of the aid to Ethiopia concerts a few years ago It was estimated than less than 20% of the money or supplies every reached one needy person. Most was stolen by other Ethiopian 's who sold it on the black market and profited handsomely. Distributing aid in Africa is a nightmare, given the thoroughly corrupt governments there. Today few African nations cooperate with each other, the governments cry about nature causing the problems, and Africans sit passively and do little to help themselves. The number of famines caused by corrupt government and wars in Africa is almost uncountable.
So what is the solution? Is just handing out more aid it? I don't think so. African's must reform their governments, stop fighting among themselves and distribute and use the foreign aid wisely. Otherwise, the increase in aid by the G8 nations is throwing money down a bottomless pit. Perhaps a better way to hand out aid is to give it in direct proportion to how much a poor nation democratizes and reforms it's political system.
Do you agree or disagree?