We often speak of Africa as a continent to be rescued, but rarely as a continent that learns, equips itself, and builds its own autonomy.
And we almost never speak of one of the most constant actors in this quiet work: MASHAV (1), Israel’s international cooperation agency.

The agency was created in the late 1950s, at the very moment when many African countries were gaining independence. It was conceived by an Israel poor in natural resources, facing aridity, food insecurity, and public-health emergencies—precisely the same challenges confronting these newly independent states.

From the outset, MASHAV adopted a distinctive policy: to train rather than to fund, to transfer skills rather than to create dependency.
The objective is clear: to make aid unnecessary—by giving the means for autonomy.

For more than sixty years, tens of thousands of African professionals have been........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)