Introduction

A book which strives to contribute to a renewed economic policy in Africa, in view of helping the continent to accelerate its progress toward the achievement of its aspirations for economic development, would not be complete without an adequate treatment of globalization from the point of view of its implications for the elaboration and conduct of economic policy. As a matter of fact, globalization, in my opinion, presents the greatest challenge which officials of economic policy in Africa today must handle. This challenge is greater than all the challenges that developed countries have had to face during their development process. What effects may globalization have on the elaboration and conduct of economic policy in Africa? How can African countries better consider globalization in the elaboration and conduct of their economic policy? These are some of the questions to which I will try to find answers in Part Three. As such, I will start by examining the main aspects of the process of globalization. This will be the aim of Chapter 9. The next chapter will enable me to examine in greater detail the constraints and opportunities that globalization represents for the new African economic policy I am calling for.

Today, most, if not everyone, would define globalization as both a process and a result. As a process, globalization is seen as the acceleration of international trade in goods and services, ideas and knowledge, and increase of capital movement involving developed countries as well as developing countries.