ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the case study of a Nigeria, Malawi and Nicaragua. Nigeria has moved from being one of the richest countries in Africa to becoming one of the poorest. When the Nigerian military government of General Abacha raised the low pump price of petrol, the revenue so raised was put into a special fund of some $1 billion per year, ringfenced for the purposes of providing essential services and help to the poor. Malawi's economic and geographical situation is, in many ways, very different from that of Nigeria, but it suffers from the same acute problem of having to service a totally impayable level of debt, which is unmatched by productive resources. Nicaragua needs extensive aid and advice on how to increase its export income, but it also needs further remission of its debt, which still totals 650% of export of goods and services and 355% of GNP.
