ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on research conducted by the author in six African French-speaking countries in the years 1962-1975. It draws on two major aspects: typical deficiencies in the administrative system of developing countries which retard the process of development, and the attitudes expressed by foreign assistance personnel and their local counterparts on the nature of their work and mutual interrelations. These two aspects were examined in personal interviews with foreign experts and local counterparts and also through questionnaires which members of these two groups filled in. The experts spoke of variables such as lack of motivation, or the apathy of the counterparts more often than of the absence of a formal education or insufficient technical capabilities. Experts claim that in spite of the fact that authorities in the developing countries fully share the concept of the counterparts' importance, no priority is being given to their adequate selection and training.
