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Africa and the World Economy: Prospects for Growth, Development and Independence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

Sanford Wright
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Extract

The importance of economic growth, development, and independence to. African countries cannot be overemphasized; Africa has been, and continues to be, the most economically disadvantaged part of the world. Economic growth, normally indicated by the increase in monetary Gross Domestic Product, is essential to meet the needs of increasing populations as well as their rising levels of expectations. Development involves the structural changes necessary to make an economy more balanced, integrated, and flexible, and is essential for sustaining growth. Economic dependence, which is reflected in such features as open economies, high levels of foreign assistance, and exports of a few primary products to a limited number of destinations, is viewed as being a major causal factor for underdevelopment and an impingement on national pride and dignity.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Issues , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , Winter 1978 , pp. 43 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1978 

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References

Notes

1. Survey of Economic Conditions in Africa, 1973 (New York: United Nations, 1974), p. 1.

2. World Bank Atlas, 1976 (Washington, D.C.), p. 12.

3. Survey of Economic Conditions in Africa, 1973 p. 17.

4. Ibid., p. 87.

5. Sources: The Yearbook of International Trade Statistics (New York: United Nations), various issues, and The Statistical Yearbook (New York: United Nations), various issues.

6. For a discussion of dependency theory see Andre, Frank, Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1969)Google Scholar, and Latin American: Underdevelopment or Revolution? (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972), and Green, Reginald, “Political Independence and the National Economy: An Essay in the Political Economy of Decolonization,” in Allen, Christopher and Johnson, R., eds., African Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970)Google Scholar.

7. The Future of the World Economy (New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 1977), p. 3.

8. Ibid., p. 3.

9. For an analytical discussion of groupings in West Africa, with emphasis on the recently formed ECOWAS, see Yansane, A. Y., “The Economic Community of West African States,” The Review of Black Political Economy. 7 (Spring 1977), 215–237 Google Scholar.

10. For a discussion of needed changes see Green, R. H., “Economic Independence and Economic Co-operation,” in Ghai, D. P., ed., Economic Independence In Africa (Dar es Salaam: East African Literature Bureau, 1973), pp. 70–72 Google Scholar.

11. For example, see Ochole, Samuel, Minerals in African Underdevelopment (London: Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications Limited, 1975)Google Scholar.