Consultants take much of foreign aid, UK group claims.

"Aid needs to help the poorest, not line the pockets of western consultants," a report by ActionAid, a British group, say. They claim that too much aid continues to be identified, designed and managed by donors tied to their countries' own firms, and poorly coordinated.

CharityAid claims that more than 100 million pounds (more than $200 million) of Britain's 5-billion [pounds sterling] aid budget, was spent on privately educating the offspring of the highly paid consultants who typically earn $200,000 a year. CharityAid argued that the money would be better spent building up homegrown expertise in poor countries.

The Department of International Development responded that "advice from technical experts show real results." In Rwanda, consultants have helped to improve their tax collection so that more money can be spent on schools and hospitals. The UK does not force technical assistance on developing countries, nor do we make privatization a condition of our assistance.

ActionAid said that most of the contracts were awarded to the five consultancy firms: PWC, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst and Young and Accenture. For the west as a whole, at least 25% of donor budgets, some $19 billion in 2004, was spent on consultants or on research and training.