Mugging the Poor: IBRD/IMF and the Pursuit of African Development
Abdullahi O. El-Tom
Abstract: The article looks at the recent African development debacle. In particular, it focuses on the external factors that the author takes as the primary cause of the problem. Without denying the impact of some internal factors such as corruption and mismanagement, the author argues that it is the continued subordination of Africa to serve Western interests that prevented any hope towards a genuine transformation of the continent. This is guaranteed through a host of policies imposed and spearheaded by a number of international organizations currently led by IBRD and the IMF. The article concludes by calling on the African leaders to move towards a complete desalinization of Africa and implement their own development strategies that have been consistently rejected by the outside world. It concludes that it is only through this that Africa can hope for a true transformation that will benefit its own people.