Page 480 - Volume 2_CHANGES_merged_with links

Changes!

Commentary

BWI as simply ‘bullying’ Africa. And in a way that shaped African economies that suited the

ability of USA businesses to better exploit commercial opportunities.

See the following :

"I was in Washington last year. At the World Bank the first question they asked me was
how did you fail? I responded that we took over a country with 85 percent of its adult

population illiterate. The British ruled us for 43 years. When they left, there were 2 trained
engineers and 12 doctors. This is the country we inherited. When I stepped down, there

was 91-per-cent literacy and nearly every child was in school. We trained thousands of
engineers and doctors and teachers. In 1988 Tanzania's per capita income was $280.

Now, in 1998, it is $140. So I asked the World Bank people what went wrong. Because for
the last ten years Tanzania has been signing on the dotted line and doing everything the

IMF and the World Bank wanted. Enrollment in school has plummeted to 63 percent and
conditions in health and other social services have deteriorated. I asked them again:

what went wrong? These people just sat there looking at me. Then they asked what could
they do? I told them have some humility. Humility -- they are so arrogant!

... It seems that independence of the former colonies has suited the interests of the

industrial world for bigger profits at less cost. Independence made it cheaper for them to
exploit us. We became neo-colonies."

Julius Nyerere as quoted in "Conflicts in Africa--Introduction."

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All too often BWI insistence became intransigence in the face of widespread feedback
from all stakeholders of the damage done by BWI policies in Africa.
Wherever you look there is compelling evidence of this ‘damage’ done to African

economies by the insistence of BWI imposed structural adjustments and conditionalities.

See the following :

The Effects of Structural Adjustment Programs on Poverty and Income
Distribution

Propensity score matching does not show significant effects of SAPs on poverty

indicators. Using Heckman regressions we find evidence that participation in IMF
programs is connected to higher poverty rates and a more unequal income

distribution. These results stay robust after controlling for other economic
variables.

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