Structural adjustment policies in Africa

The structural adjustment programme (SAP) which the Bretton Woods institutions have obliged developing countries, particularly the heavily indebted ones among them, to adopt as a condition for debt relief has provoked controversy throughout the world. In Africa in particular, it has been perceived as an imposition whose scope is too restricted. Indeed the World Summit for Social Development, in its Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, made concrete proposals designed to reorient SAP into a human-centred strategy for promoting trade and investment, productive employment, poverty eradication and the enhancement of social integration and democracy. While welcoming these proposals and a paradigm shift currently taking place in the World Bank, the present article notes that this will not be the first time such movement has happened without leading to any significant change on the ground. In spite of the high growth rates achieved in some countries for a limited period (usually two years at a time), lacklustre per capita GDP growth rates, low diversification, income inequality and poverty remain the plight of the African people. Even with the HIPC debt initiative, the debt overhang remains a major constraint on economic, political and social restructuring and transformation.