Who has failed Africa? IMF measures or the African leadership?

Journal of Asian and African Studies

Volumn 33, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 265-274

  Scott, Gerald ^a  

^a FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE; ECONOMIC POLICY; IMF; LEADERSHIP; STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT;

AFRICA;

EID: 0031788321     PISSN: 00219096     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/002190969803300303     Document Type: Article

References (13)

1. Stewart reports that some empirical evidence suggest that several African countries in the 1980s experienced decline in per capita income, rising unemployment and urban poverty, fall in per capita government expenditure, increased inequality, stagnant or declining levels of real investments and deterioration in the balance of payments on current account. See Frances Stewart, "Should Conditionality Change?" In the IMF and the World Bank in Africa: Conditionality, Impact, and Alternatives: ed. by Kjell Havnevik, Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Upsala, 1987.
2. Loxely argues that there are practical and theoretical reasons why IMF programs must be expected to fail in Africa. See John Loxely, "Alternative Approaches to Stabilization in Africa," in Africa and the IMF: ed. by G.K. Helleiner, Washington DC: IMF. In the "New Guidelines on the use of IMF Resources," March 1979, IMF Washington DC, the IMF agreed to pay due regard to the circumstances of members.
3. Loxely argues that there are practical and theoretical reasons why IMF programs must be expected to fail in Africa. See John Loxely, "Alternative Approaches to Stabilization in Africa," in Africa and the IMF: ed. by G.K. Helleiner, Washington DC: IMF. In the "New Guidelines on the use of IMF Resources," March 1979, IMF Washington DC, the IMF agreed to pay due regard to the circumstances of members.
4. See Emmanuel Nnadozie. "IMF measures Failed Africa," Profiles. Vol. I, No. 2, April 1992.
5. See Stewart in note 1 above.
6. See G.E. Scott, "The African Capacity to Transfer," Journal of International Development. Vol. 3, No. 2, 163-193 (1991).
7. Many Africans, especially those who have worked with government officials, are much more familiar with the nature and magnitude of corruption. There are numerous cases of corruption throughout the region, but we will list a few: (i) Stevens, the former president of Sierra Leone, had several buildings constructed and sold to the government at highly inflated prices. One of those buildings was returned to him as a gift from the government, and for another, he demanded payment in foreign currency of $3 million at a time when the country was in serious BOP difficulties. The same president went on the radio to report that he had received oil, 40 luxury automobiles, and a substantial financial contribution from the government of Algeria. However he dared anyone to ask him how much that contribution was. (ii) President Mobutu who incidentally has an estimated personal fortune of $4 billion, once had $14.5 million drawn from the central bank for his personal account. Also $4 million was paid to a Belgian professor, the guardian of Mobutu's son for a bogus study on poverty. (iii) Nigerian officials embezzled billions of dollars from the sale of Nigerian oil during the 1970s.
8. For instance see Justin B. Zulu and Saleh M. Msouli, "Adjustment Programs in Africa: The Recent Experience," IMF Occasional Paper No. 34, April 1985 26-27, and Alhasane Outarra, "Design Implementation and Adequacy of Fund Programs in Africa," in Africa and the IMF, ed. by G.K. Helleiner. Washington, DC: IMF, 1986.
9. For instance see Justin B. Zulu and Saleh M. Msouli, "Adjustment Programs in Africa: The Recent Experience," IMF Occasional Paper No. 34, April 1985 26-27, and Alhasane Outarra, "Design Implementation and Adequacy of Fund Programs in Africa," in Africa and the IMF, ed. by G.K. Helleiner. Washington, DC: IMF, 1986.
10. See Michael Hood, "Africa, The IMF and The World Bank," African Affairs.
11. Ibid.
12. The World Bank, reports in the World Development Report, World Bank: Washington, DC, 1991, p. 152 that in 1972 two thirds of the names on the civil service roster in Zaire were fictitious.
13. See note 10.