Africa's development agenda in the 1990s and beyond: the role of africa's partners: address to the committee on development policy of the bundestag

Abstract

This is a speech delivered by professor Adedeji to the Committee on Development Policy at the BUNDESTAG, German parliament. He notes that the lack of structural transformation and the pervasive low levels of productivity are the underlying causes of Africa’s underdevelopment and persistent economic crises. He cites the most serious exogenous factors as the formidable constraints resulting from the intertwining of heavy debt burden, diminished export earnings and declining real resource flows during much of the eighties amounting to negative overall resources flows to Africa. He concludes that unless the fundamental structural problems and bottlenecks are dealt with in a decisive manner, the African economies will continue to remain in a perpetual state of crisis. He recommends the ECA led policy instruments of AAF-SAP, which are broad and flexible frameworks within which governments can design their own national “adjustment with transformation” programmes. The AAF-SAP calls for the internalization of the impulses of growth; the democratization of the development process; and for making the people the lead actors of development. All this is to ensure that growth and development will be sustained, sustainable, and human- centered.