The International Politics of African Debt

Abstract

This paper assesses the international politics of Africa's growing external indebtedness and the pressures for policy direction that it produces. After the scale and character of the problem has been assessed, the paper looks, first, at the increasingly significant rôle of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within Africa. The nature of external policy direction is then examined, particular attention being paid to the influential World Bank policy paper, the Berg Report. Its policy prescriptions are assessed in the light of conditions in several African countries. The paper concludes by examining alternatives to IMF policy direction, including default and collective disengagement.