Structural Adjustment Policies in Africa

In: International social science journal: ISSJ, Band 51, S. 521-528

Abstract

The structural adjustment program (SAP) that developing countries are obliged to adopt as a condition for debt relief provided by the World Bank & the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provoked controversy throughout the world. In Africa, in particular, the SAP has been perceived as an imposition with too restrictive a scope. The 1995 World Summit for Social Development, in its Copenhagen Declaration & Program of Action, made concrete proposals designed to reorient SAP into a human-centered strategy for promoting trade & investment, productive employment, poverty eradication, & the enhancement of social integration & democracy. While welcoming these proposals & a paradigm shift currently taking place in the World Bank, it is noted that such movement has occurred before without leading to any significant change. In spite of the high growth rates achieved in some countries for a limited period (usually two years at a time), lackluster per capita gross domestic product growth rates, low diversification, income inequality, & poverty remain the plight of the African people. Even with the IMF Highly Indebted Poor Countries debt initiative, the debt overhang remains a major constraint on economic, political, & social restructuring & transformation. 2 Tables, 1 Photograph. Adapted from the source document.