Our Continent, Our Future: African Perspectives on Structural Adjustment

This is the first book to present the African perspective on the Bretton Woods approach to structural adjustment, and it does so with the input and support of top economists and scholars from every corner of Africa. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country’s unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy. Finally, they stress that Africa must, and can, compete in an increasingly globalized world and, perhaps most importantly, that Africans must assume the leading role in defining the continent’s development agenda.