Prodded by flickering images on the evening news—images of human wastage and suffering on a scale difficult to conceive—the world's attention has finally been drawn to the tragic famine that has been plaguing Africa for the past two years. Meanwhile, another disaster is brewing in Africa, one the world may fail to recognize until it is too late to remedy. Unnoticed because of the more compelling nature of famine, and also because most of the world has had its own problems with recession and sluggish economic growth, Africa's economy has been deteriorating at an alarming rate for most of the last ten years.