ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on key concepts discussed in the preceding chapter of this book. The book focuses on the role of economic diversification, including export-oriented manufacturing, and provides an analysis of the pros and cons of the type and nature of formal employment thus generated. A comparison of the analyses of the three developing world regions so far covered in this series of the developing areas research group of the institute of British geographers, including this volume on eastern and southern Africa, indicates both commonalities and differences in their experiences of development. In 1999 President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and President Bouteflika of Algeria were mandated by an Extraordinary Summit of the Organisation of African Unity to try and persuade Africa's creditors to cancel all outstanding debts. The argument, that if democracy had prevailed and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had come to power, the depth of the economic implosion could have been lessened and the situation stabilised.
