ABSTRACT
The African leaders that assembled in Addis Ababa in 1963 appreciated the enormous economic and social problems which the continent faced. The economy had been designed mainly to serve the interests of the erstwhile colonial powers. By 1973 a confluence of unrelated external factors compelled the Organization of African Unity to pay attention to economic issues. The institution of an Arab oil embargo against Western supporters of Israel, their production cut-back and their unilateral and unprecedented oil price increases in October 1973, as part of the Arab war effort against Israel, had a disruptive effect on the world economy. The devastating effect of the oil crisis on African economies brought home dramatically to African states the need to pay collective attention to economic issues. The Lagos Plan of Action mapped out four broad priority areas for Africa's development by the year 2000. These are food and agriculture, energy, trade and finance and the creation of an African common market.
