He has come to distrust official foreign aid - from governments, the United Nations and big international agencies.

That is five and a half times what these countries give in official aid to developing nations.

It is active but not an official aid to navigation.

It is sometimes said that Americans make up for low official aid with private charitable gifts.

Equally, poor countries want to be certain rich country money comes on non top of official aid.

Between 1989 and 1994, official aid to developing countries rose from $42.6 billion, to $54.5 billion, according to the World Bank.

The lights were maintained as an official aid to navigation until 1922.

For the first time since 2000, the percentage spent on official aid has fallen, from 0.41% in 2006 to 0.38% in 2007.

Priority must however be given to two areas: competitiveness and the rational distribution of official aid.

There, he tried to whistle up the promised arms and official aid but, tragically, found himself treated as a national joke.