Neoliberal Policies as a path towards economic recovery in Sub Saharan African Countries ?

As a participant of the course ‘Abandoning Development: Africa and the
Contemporary Economic International Political-Economic System I am asked to write
a final paper about an issue that was dealt with in the course and which is also based
on the literature, that was provided.
Since I am a Political Science student, who specialized in International Relations, I
deliberately chose the course mentioned above to learn about the global economicpolitical
system and its impact on whole regions. The case of Africa, in particular of
Sub Saharan Africa, provides the participant with some understanding of the
relationship between the developed and the developing countries, it’s inequalities,
dependencies and perspectives, that I came across in other subjects like International
relations, International Political Economy, the Political economy of the Middle East,
etc. In that sense I feel that this case of an entire unprivileged region, like Sub Sahara
Africa, fits into that context which I have already studied.
At the international level, the fate of Sub Saharan African countries is highly relevant
not just for its 45 countries hosting 500 million people. The De-humanization of
Africa, as Manuel Castells refers to, goes in line with the rise of information/global
capitalism by the beginning of seventies in the last century. Consequently many of its
states disintegrated, societies collapsed, causing famine, epidemics, civil war, and
social/political chaos. If one perceives these deteriorating developments as structurally conditioned then one can easily see the link to the global economic
system and imagine the consequences, leading to several scenarios that the global
community will have to deal with. But rather than developing these scenarios, this
paper deals with the issue, whether recent policies and tools to ameliorate the
economic situation of many African countries are suitable and eventually led to
improvement in economic and social terms. Since the early eighties neoliberal
policies were introduced by US-president Reagan and the UK-Prime minister
Margaret Thatcher. [...]

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• The Problem
• The Neoliberal Approach
• Structural Adjustment Programs
• Results
• Conclusion
• The Problem

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This paper examines the effectiveness of neoliberal policies in promoting economic recovery in Sub-Saharan African countries. The main research question is whether these policies, particularly Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), have been successful in addressing the region's economic and social challenges.

• The impact of neoliberal policies on Sub-Saharan African economies
• The effectiveness of Structural Adjustment Programmes in promoting economic recovery
• The role of the IMF and World Bank in shaping economic policies in Africa
• The social and political consequences of neoliberal policies in Africa
• The perspectives of various scholars on the economic challenges facing Africa

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

Introduction

This section provides an introduction to the paper's topic, outlining the research question, the main arguments, and the structure of the paper. It highlights the importance of understanding the relationship between the global economic-political system and the development of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Problem

This chapter analyzes the economic and social difficulties that Sub-Saharan African countries faced in the last two decades of the 20th century. It examines the decline in trade, investment, production, and consumption in the region, highlighting the increasing dependence on international aid and foreign borrowing. The chapter also explores the reasons for this decline, including unreliable institutional environments and other factors.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

This paper focuses on the application of neoliberal policies, Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), economic recovery, Sub-Saharan Africa, IMF, World Bank, international aid, foreign borrowing, economic decline, and institutional environment.

Details

• Hochschule: Universiteit van Amsterdam (FMG)
• Note: 8,0 von max 10
• Autor: Lutz Lindenau (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2002
• Seiten: 19
• Katalognummer: V18770
• ISBN (eBook): 9783638230384
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: Neoliberal Policies Saharan African Countries