ABSTRACT
If the Bank’s relationship with Africa, prior to the 1980s, can be referred to as cordial, this relationship can only be described as strained during the 1980s and 1990s. While many analysts focus on the Bank and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) dictating of economic and development policies to African governments (see Owusu, 2003 ; Lancaster, 1997 ), the Bank especially has had its own share of trials in its engagement with Africa. In the years following the second oil crisis of 1979 there was much at stake for the World Bank, not only in terms of the resources it committed to Africa, but also its integrity as an institution that could effectively analyse economic problems and provide guidance regarding measures necessary to address the challenges. As the African crisis got worse during the 1980s, the situation turned into a nightmare for the Bank, and one of longterm pain for most people in Africa. The doctor-patient analogy captures well the Africa-Bank/Fund relationship during the 1980s and 1990s. Even if the doctor is emotionally and psychologically detached from his or her patient, the mere fact that the patient’s illness gets worse by the day can be painful for the patient, but equally frustrating for the physician whose ability to help seems limited.
