A CRITICAL SURVEY OF ORIGIN OF DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES IN AFRICA

A CRITICAL SURVEY OF ORIGIN OF DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES IN AFRICA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The Development Initiative is a well-known independent international development group that emphasizes the need for all responsible governments around the world to support the eradication of poverty and sustainable development. Due to its participation in the global economy, Africa as a continent is therefore not excluded. Because of its gloomy nature and disastrous socioeconomic ramifications for its roughly one billion inhabitants, the growth and performance of African countries can be regarded as among the least encouraging economic performances of the twenty-first century, hence the need for development initiatives.

African countries had high hopes for progress after achieving independence from colonial powers in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but the majority of them are significantly poorer today than they were when their nations first became independent. The growth rates were positive before the global oil shock of 1974. For instance, Artadi and Sala-i-Martin (2003) note that growth for the entire continent was over 3% in the early 1960s, close to 2% in the late 1960s, and just under 1.5% between 1970 and 1974. The second part of the 1970s saw a significant change in the situation.

The Cold War rivalry between the West and the Communist bloc, the ideological conflict between Third World socialism (led by Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana) and neo-colonial capitalism (led by Houphouet Boigny of the Ivory Coast), and the military anti-colonial conflicts in Southern Africa all contributed to the significant political instability that existed on the African continent from the 1960s to the 1990s. Any thorough examination of post-colonial Africa should take these political developments into account.

Real income in Africa was on average one-third less than in South Asia when measured in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), which accounts for the higher costs and prices there. As a result, Africa is the world’s poorest continent.

Africa’s average output per person in constant prices, in contrast to other developing regions, was end of the 1990s was lower than it had been 30 years earlier, and in certain countries it had decreased by more than 50%. For many nations, budgetary resources per capita were less than they were in the late 1960s. Since the 1960s, Africa’s contribution to global trade has decreased; it now makes up a small part.

Taking the above into consideration, we note that the African growth performance has been very weak in absolute terms, but appears worse if we take into account that, during this same period, the rest of the world has been growing at an annual rate of close to two per cent. The biggest contrast in terms of development has been between Africa and the Asian continent. In the 1960s, most African countries were richer than their Asian counterparts, and their stronger natural resource base led many to believe that Africa’s economic potential was superior to overpopulated Asia’s. In 1965, for example, incomes and exports per capita were higher in Ghana than in South Korea.

Additionally after  decades of independence , West African countries in particular are still dependent  in primary products. Consequently is Africa missing out on the field of industrial progress and now risks being excluded from the global digital revolution. The majority of countries in Africa are still primarily exporters of primary commodities, in contrast to other parts of the world that have diversified. Not only are they dependent on primary products, but the majority of them are also struggling with debt, slow development, unrelenting public spending, and government borrowing from international banks. As a result, their GDP has remained at an average level, which is typical for impoverished countries. These and other enormous happenings compelled African leaders to consider how to help them address their underdevelopment problems, leading to the introduction of development initiatives likewise small-business owners.
The crucial role that each government played was the distinguishing characteristic of African development programs in the 1960s.

1.2   Statement of the problem

The leaders of Africa selected human development as one of their development strategies right away after gaining independence. This was to be accomplished as part of frameworks for long- and medium-term development, whose goals were to: get rid of the “colonial structure” that had been imposed on African economies, hasten economic growth, and raise people’s standards of living. For instance, as distinctive “home grown” post-independence development plans, Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere developed the “Africanisation” and “Ujamaa and Kujitegemea” programmes in Ghana and Tanzania in 1957 and 1962, respectively. The programs represented a fundamental break from the self-reliant British colonial model. The programs had a significant impact on the elderly, farmers, market women, teenagers, civil and governmental workers, and others because of the force behind them likewise small-business owners.

The crucial role that each government played was the distinguishing characteristic of African development programs in the 1960s.

The key feature of African development initiatives in the 1960s was the important role each government  played. The State allocated itself a central role in the development process, building social and economic infrastructure, and providing social services to the impoverished people of the continent. Another feature of the development initiatives in the 1960s was the import substitution strategy, which ensured adequate protection of local industries and employment. This development strategy, with the central role of the state and the protection of local industries and employment, would come to be condemned and dismantled by the international financial institutions.

African leaders realized that the most effective way to develop Africa and Africans was to involve the state in economic activities in order to ensure that there was fairness in the distribution of the benefits from national income and growth. Notably, on the continent, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), played instrumental roles in the processes that led to the emergence of these development initiatives.

As a result, the Lagos Plan of Action and the Final Act of Lagos were adopted, replacing the Monrovia recommendations. Other programs or tactics were introduced in response to the World Bank’s recommendations, including the African Priority Programme for Economic Recovery, 1986–1990 (APPER), which later evolved into the UN Programme of Action for Africa’s Economic Recovery and Development (UN-PAAERD), the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programme for Socio-economic Recovery and Transformation (AAF-SAP), and the African Charter for Popular Participation in Development (ACPD). So, the purpose of this study is to provide a historical perspective of African development attempts.

1.3   Objective of the Study

i. Explore the historical context of African development projects.
ii. Examine the similarities and/or differences in the initiatives’ substance, funding, and implementation.
iii. Analyze the positive and negative aspects of African development projects.
iv. Describe how the initiatives have aided in the economic growth of Africa.

1.4   Research Question

The history of Africa’s development initiatives will be considered as the study’s main focus. The research specifically aims to:

i. What is the background of African development projects historically?
ii. How similar and/or different are the initiatives’ plans, budgets
methods of implementation?
iii. What are the African development efforts’ strengths and weaknesses?
iv. What part do the initiatives play in the economic growth of Africa?

1.5   Significance of the study

This study focuses on tracing the historical background of development initiatives in Africa, investigating similarities and/or differences in the initiatives’ content, funding, and implementation, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, and outlining their contributions to the continent’s economic development. The Lagos Plan of Action (LPA), the African Economic Community (AEC), and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development will be the subject of this study, which will span 35 years (1975 to 2010). (NEPAD).

1.6   Research Methodology

As a result, the study takes a qualitative historical tack. It implores using secondary sources of data, one of the more conventional approaches to acquiring information. A sizable portion of the secondary sources used were taken from published and unpublished works, including information culled from: archives, newspapers, discussions, conference papers, magazines, the internet, books, and journal articles, among other sources, and was then analyzed to give the subject under discussion context.

1.7   Scope of the Study

This study focuses on tracing the historical background of development initiatives in Africa, investigating similarities and/or differences in the initiatives’ content, funding, and implementation, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, and outlining their contributions to the continent’s economic development. The Lagos Plan of Action (LPA), the African Economic Community (AEC), and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development will be the subject of this study, which will span 35 years (1975 to 2010). (NEPAD).

1.8       Limitation of the Study

The study is limited not just time couple with the fact the researcher while carrying out the research engaged in other academic works simultaneously, rather also is in the ability of the researcher to organize and analyze the large secondary data collated for the study. However in spite of the constraint the researcher ensured that the limitation is downplayed to give the best result of the study.

1.9       Definition of Terms

Development is the advancement of both the quantitative and qualitative. Moreover, it refers to the improvement of people’s attitudes, behaviors, and ways of life.

In this piece, the term “strategy” refers to the perspective, stance, plan, and pattern. It is an intricate web of ideas, insights, goals, experiences, memories, perceptions, and expectations that serves as broad direction for particular actions taken in the pursuit of particular purposes.