Africa’s recent economic resurgence has raised questions of whether the process is sustainable and whether it will contribute to the continent’s transformation. Although global experiences indicate that socioeconomic development is seldom linear, with risks for reversal, the general view is...

Efforts to get Sub-Saharan Africa back into the world economy through internationally-backed reforms have largely failed due to lack of institutions, suitable local conditions or ability to negotiate effectively for foreign aid. Powerful interests or dominant communities distorted attempts at...

Zambia’s experience in the 1990s illustrates that, on their own, policy changes will not redress decades of mismanagement, especially when the degree of commitment of the elite remains unaltered. In 1991, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy won the elections on a reform platform, promising...

The last decade has seen an increasing disillusionment with aid to Africa. Whilst some have laid the blame for this failure at the door of African governments and their lack of commitment, there is growing recognition that the multiple conditionalities imposed by donors have been part of the...