ABSTRACT
Prospects for sustainable growth and improved levels of living appear slim in most African countries as they advance into their second decade of structural adjustment. Much of the optimism that accompanied the introduction of the reforms in the 1980s has given way to profound scepticism about the correctness of the approach that has been adopted for dealing with economies like Africa’s, which have weak institutional foundations, and which face increasing marginalization in the world market. Recent estimates of weighted average GDP growth rates for forty-four African countries suggest that, at best, only a modest growth of about 2.5 per cent less than the average rate of population growth – occurred between 1980 and 1991; and that no significant differences exist between the growth rates of 1980-1985, when the programmes were in their infancy, and 1985-1991, the period when the reforms were expected to yield greater positive results. Furthermore, countries which were believed to have applied the reform measures much more comprehensively – ‘the strong adjusters’ – have not performed better than those which have experienced considerable slippage, the so-called ‘weak adjusters’ (Mosley and Weeks, 1993).
