ABSTRACT
Structural adjustment in the 1980s was the latest panacea offered to Africa from the outside world. The change in World Bank policies for Africa took place without any self-criticism in the Berg Report concerning the failure of previous policies for which the Bank had been responsible. The international monetary fund (IMF) and the World Bank had set their sights in the first instance on Ghana reducing its foreign debts by export-led growth. The policy conditions required by the IMF comprised: devaluation of the currency, increased prices for cocoa producers, higher interest rates, repayment of foreign debt and reductions in government expenditure and payrolls. During the years of structural adjustment foreign investment in Africa has fallen, while it has risen elsewhere, so that by 1985 Africa’s share of worldwide investment in developing countries had been halved – from 27 per cent of the total ten years earlier to just 14 per cent.
