Alternative Development Strategies in Subsaharan Africa

by Frances Stewart

Policy-making in Africa today is dominated by the adjustment policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The book considers the consistency between these policies and long-run development needs. Detailed analysis of country experience shows that the past record in many African economies was deficient--especially in the failure to build up human capabilities, inadequate institutional development, distorted incentives and a bias against small-scale industry. The book proposes an alternative strategy containing seven an agrarian focus; support for rural non-agricultural development; the promotion of industrialization; regional import substitution; diversification of exports; development of human capabilities; and participation and institution-building. Serious inconsistencies are found between the achievement of such a strategy and current adjustment policies. In a number of important respects the adjustment policies are moving African economies away from an appropriate long-run pattern of development, especially through the cuts in expenditures on education, infrastructure and investment generally, the de-industrialization that has occurred and the strong emphasis on primary commodity exports.

486 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Frances Stewart, Professor Emeritus of Development Economics, was Director of ODID from 1993-2003 and Director of the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE) at the department between 2003 and 2010. She has a DPhil from the University of Oxford and an honorary doctorate from the University of Sussex

Awards:
- The UNDP’s Mahbub ul Haq award 2009 for lifetime’s achievements in promoting human development
- The Leontief prize 2013;