ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a vivid picture, as a sort of reminder, of the African economy as it is today. It also presents a resume of the preliminary projections for the African economy in the year 2000, assuming no fundamental changes in the mixture of public policies that has been pursued and assuming also that the past and present trends continue. The chapter discusses some of the measures by which the African region might be saved from the dire consequences implied in the projections. Although economic growth can be achieved to a certain extent through the employment of foreign factor inputs, serious costs accompany an approach. The lack of progress on both national and regional levels has combined to keep the African economy in its state of underdevelopment, with the structure of production being largely what it was in colonial days.
