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Notes from the Author

The Blind Men & the Elephant

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There is no shortage of m'zuŋ u who claim to have the answer to developing Africa’s least
developed nations. There has never been a consensus on an agreed methodology. (And
perhaps there never should be!) But that doesn’t stop them from imposing structural adjustments

and conditionalities.

(Those people who study Meles Zenawi, the former prime minister of Ethiopia, might recall how
much he achieved in their economic development by focusing on ways to make it easier for ordinary
small farmers to get their leather products to a bigger market. Contrast this with the pages in this

narrative that detail the destruction of small and medium local businesses caused by the imposition
of ‘structural adjustments’ on a country like Ghana.)

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The policy and direction of International Aid and also UK politics is determined by

people who follow this ism or that ism. Decision makers align themselves as being big-
endian or little-endian and make decisions that fit.

If Jonathan Swift were alive today, he would be both delighted and disappointed at
the same. Delighted that his literary works have stood the test of time. Disappointed at our

lack of progress.

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