To their critics, foreign aid workers in Africa serve a new form of imperialism: in their zeal to do good, the argument goes, they prop up a humanitarian system that perpetuates the continent's dependence on outsiders. To their supporters, international NGOs help the hungry and excluded, campaign for trade reform and take big risks to expose human rights abuses, often fostering African self-reliance in the process. However, one thing friend and foe agree on: for better or worse Africa 's attempts to tackle the issues that govern its fate are influenced increasingly by a growing army of foreign NGOs.