Third World Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp.

373384, 2004

Post-development theory and the question of alternatives: a view from Africa

SALLY MATTHEWS
ABSTRACT Post-development theorists have declared development obsolete and bankrupt and have called for alternatives to development. What do they mean by such calls and what should be the African response to such calls? In this paper I will attempt to address three important questions: rst, what is meant by post-development theorys call for alternatives to development? Second, why consider post-development theory from an African perspective? Third, what contributions can a consideration of African difference and diversity make towards debate on alternatives to development? I conclude by arguing that increased consideration of the African experience would be valuable for all who are seeking alternative ways of dealing with the problems that development purports to address. Sachs (1992: 1) declares development to be a ruin in the intellectual landscape; a lighthouse which supposedly inspired nations, but which now shows cracks and is starting to crumble. Statements such as these reect the disillusionment with development felt by several scholars collectively referred to as post-development theorists.1 This group of theorists feels that the concept of development is obsolete or bankrupt and that the practice of development has done more harm than good. While there are many development theorists who are disillusioned with and critical of development theory and practice, what distinguishes the post-development perspective from other critical perspectives is that post-development theory pronounces the demise of development and urges for alternatives to development rather than alternative development. This rejection of the whole paradigm of development opens post-development theory up to accusations that it provides destructive rather than constructive criticism; that it declares development to be a ruin beyond repair, and sets out to tear down this ruin, without sufcient consideration of what should be put in its place. Sachs metaphor of a crumbling lighthouse could be used by critics of post-development theory to argue that even a crumbling, malfunctioning lighthouse is better than having no guiding light at all! While post-development literature calls for alternatives to development, a discussion of these alternatives has not featured prominently in much post-development literature, with the alternatives being only mentioned or
Sally Matthews is in the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. Email: smatthews@postino.up.ac.za. ISSN 0143-6597 print/ISSN 1360-2241 online/04/0200373-12 2004 Third World Quarterly DOI: 10.1080/0143659042000174860

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briey described.2 As a result, Nederveen Pieterse (2000: 188) says that the idea of alternatives to development is a misnomer because no such alternatives are offered. As Nustad (2001) has recently pointed out, post-development theorys weakness in terms of the absence of a comprehensive description of alternatives to development, is no reason to reject the theory as a whole.3 Post-development theorys weaknesses should not be allowed to cause its insightful and radical critique of development to go unheard. However, the question of alternatives is an important one, and time and thought ought to be devoted to determining what post-development theorists mean when they call for the abandonment of the whole epistemological and political eld of postwar development (Escobar 1991: 675), as well as to discussions of what alternatives to development may involve. This question of alternatives is one of the issues which motivated the writing of this paper. Another motivation for the writing of the paper stems from the observation that post-development theory has had little to say about Africa, and that African scholars have had little to say about post-development theory. While it seems that the critique of development offered by post-development theory is exceptionally relevant to Africa, there has been little attempt to relate the post-development perspective to the continent. I will aim to show that post-development theory is relevant to Africa and to argue for more attention to be given to post-development theory by African scholars, as well as for more attention to be given to Africa by those writing from a post-development perspective. Furthermore, I believe that a consideration of Africa by those adopting a post-development perspective could be valuable for the articulation of alternatives to development. The way in which African world-views and lifestyles differ from those of Western and Westernised regions, and the diversity of world-views and lifestyles in Africa could provide useful insights for those concerned with describing such alternatives. The paper will attempt to provide some discussion on the issue of alternatives to development and to make a few comments on post-development theory from the perspective of the African continent. In doing the above, three important questions will be dealt with: rst, what is meant by post-development theorys call for alternatives to development? Second, why consider post-development theory from an African perspective? Third, what contributions can a consideration of post-development theory from an African perspective make towards the question of alternatives to development? Alternatives to what? As pointed out by Nederveen Pieterse (2000: 176), post-development theory can be distinguished from other critical approaches to development (such as dependency theory, alternative development theory and human development) by its insistence that development be rejected entirely, rather than better implemented or altered in specic ways. This rejection appears to emerge from a feeling that the negative consequences which have been observed to result from development are intrinsic to development, rather than being unintentional side-effects of it. 374

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Thus the problem, from the perspective of post-development theorists, is not that the project of development was poorly implemented and that it is necessary to nd a better way to bring it about, but that the assumptions and ideas that are core to development are problematic, and so improved implementation is not the answer. Consider Rahnema (1997: 379) who says that development did not fail because governments, institutions and people implemented it poorly, but rather because it is the wrong answer to [its target populations] needs and aspirations. Development is thus to be rejected rather than reformed. But what can it mean to reject development? What is (and what is not) being rejected? In answering this question I think it is important to point out that post-development theorists appear to use the word development to refer to the theories and practices which have most commonly been associated with the term development in the post-World War II era. Thus, a particular form of development is being referred to in post-development literature. In order to make this distinction clear, I will, for the rest of the paper, use the term the post-World War II development project (PWWII development project) to refer to the theories and practices which have since the 1950s been associated with the term development. I shall use development without qualication to refer to the concept of development used in a broader way and applicable to a number of contexts. It should be acknowledged here that the ideas, theories and practices that have been associated with the term development since the 1950s are diverse, and several of the theories about development are set up in opposition to other theories of development. The post-World War II era has seen development theories rooted in capitalist ideology, and others rooted in Marxist ideology; there have been approaches promoting state-led development and others promoting market-led development; there have been the ideas of mainstream economists (sometimes housed in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund) and there have been the ideas of those who responded critically to them. The PWWII development project encompasses them allthe term is meant to refer to the various ideas and practices which have been premised upon the belief that some areas of the world are developed, and others not, and that those which are not can and should set about achieving the development which has thus far eluded them. This whole body of knowledge (with all its various strains) is rejected by post-development theorists, but the idea that it is possible for a society to undergo some or other process of transformation, which will result in a better life for its inhabitants, is not. Post-development theorists clearly reject attempts to reform the PWWII development project in order to eliminate its negative effects. They pour scorn upon projects such as sustainable development, which aim to maintain the core assumptions which have informed the PWWII development project but to make some changes in an attempt to eliminate or reduce the negative consequences which this form of development has apparently brought about.4 Post-development theorists ridicule such attempts. Latouche (1993: 149186) calls them siren songs and says that so-called alternative development is more insidious than hard development because its friendly exterior is more seductive than 375

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hard development, but its content much the same. Post-development theorists do not believe that talk of sustainable development, a basic needs approach or other improvements of the PWWII development project are a cause for hope, insisting that what is needed is to dethrone development and leave it behind in pursuit of radically alternative visions of social life (OConnor & Arnoux, 1993: 13). But what precisely do those calling for the abandonment of the PWWII development project mean? If development is dened most simply, it could be said to be a process involving the unfolding of changes in the direction of reaching a higher or more mature state of being. Thus a bud develops into a ower, a child into an adult, and a caterpillar into a buttery. Stripped of the connotations that have attached themselves to the concept over the past few decades, the concept development is close in meaning to improvement, to amelioration, to desirable change. Surely post-development theorists cannot mean to reject the desirability of positive change when they call for an end to development. Post-development theorists enthusiasm regarding the so-called New Social Movements, and other grassroots organisations aiming to bring about change in their communities, shows that such theorists certainly do not view positive social change as impossible or undesirable. It is here that the distinction made earlier between the PWWII development project and development becomes important. Post-development theorists reject the PWWII development project, rather than development. It could, indeed, be said that they feel that the PWWII development project has not brought about development! Thus the call for an end to development and alternatives to development is a rejection of the post-World War II attempts to engineer particular changes in the so-called Third World in order to bring about a situation deemed by various development theorists (who, more often than not, do not come from the Third World) to be more desirable than the current situation. The call for an end to development should not, however, be interpreted as a belief that the bettering of social organisation is impossible, nor as a call for a return to earlier ways of life. While some post-development theorists have not made this distinction clear, allowing for ambiguity regarding what is meant by their calls for alternatives to development, others have clearly pointed out that, while the PWWII development project may be obsolete and bankrupt, the project of improving peoples lives (which can more correctly carry the name development) must not be abandoned. This is made abundantly clear in the conclusion of The Post-Development Reader, where Rahnema & Bawtree (1997: 385, emphasis in the original) say:
The contributors [to The Post-Development Reader] generally agree that the people whose lives have often been traumatized by development changes do not refuse to accept change. Yet what they seek is of a quite different nature. They want change that would enable them to blossom like a ower from the bud (a good denition in Websters dictionary for what development should be!); that could leave them free to change the rules and the contents of change, according to their own culturally dened ethics and aspirations.

Thus, a call for alternatives to development (perhaps more correctly written as alternatives to the PWWII development project in the context of this paper) is a 376

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call for a new way of changing, of developing, of improving, to be constructed in the place of the ruin of the PWWII development project. The call for alternatives must not be read as a call for the rejection of the possibility or desirability of change in the direction of improving societies, nor as callous disregard of the desire of the many who suffer in poverty and misery to see improvement in their situation. Why consider post-development theory from an African perspective? A number of post-development theorists come from the so-called Third World (consider Alvares, Escobar, Kothari, Rahnema and others), but none of the prominent thinkers linked with this school of thought is African and, furthermore, the African situation has not featured prominently in discussions by such theorists. One could be led to suppose that the ndings of post-development theorists are less relevant to Africa than they are to the rest of the Third World. The absence of discussions related to the post-development perspective is evidently not a result of a lack of interest in the topic of development in Africa, as the question of development in Africa features prominently in academic work about the continent, with scholars writing about Africa frequently assuming development to be an urgent priority. Africas leaders also make frequent reference to the need for development, often urging their people to endure hardship because it will ultimately bring about development, or to accept a controversial policy because this policy is said to be necessary if development is to take place. The recent declaration and publicisation of the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD) has once again emphasised development as a priority for Africa. However, despite the obvious interest in development shown by African politicians and scholars, there is perhaps only a handful of African scholars who have published work on development from anything similar to a post-development perspective.5 Generally speaking, discussions and literature focusing on the question of development in Africa have not taken into account the post-development perspective. This is strange as it seems that many of the factors that led to the disillusionment of post-development theorists are prominent in Africa. While post-development theorists are a disparate bunch, they are bound together by their disillusionment with the PWWII development project and there are several reasons that are frequently cited as cause for this disillusionment. The environmental destruction which the PWWII development project appears to bring about is one such cause. Another is the many broken promises made by the advocates of the PWWII development projectthey promised poverty reduction, increased income equity, economic growth, rapid increases in standards of living and the like, but these promises have not come about. Other post-development theorists are disillusioned because they feel that no matter how the PWWII development project is packaged, it always results in increased cultural homogenisation and, ultimately, Westernisation. The causes for disillusionment, especially the many broken promises, are highly evident in Africa. Africa has been subjected to development initiative after development initiative, and yet it remains impoverished, and the gap between the standard of living of Africans and those in the 377

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developed world is ever-widening. The United Nations Development Programme (2001: 10) lists several countries which have experienced setbacks in human development (ie the standard of living, as measured by the Human Development Index, has been falling). Of the 20 countries mentioned, 12 are African. The UNDP also notes that the GDP growth rate of sub-Saharan Africa between 1975 and 1999 was 1%, thus Africa, which was already impoverished in 1975, has only become more impoverished (UNDP, 2001: 10). Amin (1990: 67) lists a number of economic and social indicators which demonstrate that Africas development has broken down. Statistics like those offered by the UNDP and Amin can only give a very limited picture of how the PWWII development project has affected Africa, but no matter how one chooses to evaluate the performance of the PWWII development project in Africa, it is difcult to avoid the conclusion that it has failed abysmally. After countless different interventions premised upon different theories, poverty and inequality continue to plague Africa. The failure of the PWWII development project is at least as apparent in Africa as it is in the rest of the Third World. This is not, of course, to say that every initiative associated with the PWWII development project has failed. Defenders of the PWWII development project point out that promised improvements in literacy rates have materialised; that infant mortality has decreased; and that several other indicators of standards of living represent successes. Corbridge (1998: 145) slams post-development theory for failing to acknowledge the extraordinary accomplishments that have dened the Age of Development. This may be true, and post-development theory may rightly be criticised for failing to acknowledge where the PWWII development project has brought about some of the changes it promised or had some kind of benecial inuence, but this does not invalidate the claim that this project has failed. The PWWII development project has not brought about the kind of life its various advocates claimed it would bring about, even if several initiatives associated with it have been partially successful. When dealing with issues as urgent and desperate as poverty, inequality and deprivation, limited success must be recognised ultimately as failure. To promise to deliver a starving man a meal and then only to deliver a few crumbs is to fail to keep a promise. Thus, when reading the angry words of post-development theorists complaining that the PWWII development project has only brought about disappointment, increased inequities, cultural homogenisation, environmental destruction and general disillusionment, one cannot help but feel that the African situation conrms and underlines these theorists ndings. And one cannot help but be surprised that the insights of post-development theory have not been extensively related to Africa, nor extensively discussed by African academics. I will not here speculate as to why this is the case, but will rather simply repeat that post-development theory is relevant to Africa, because it recognises the failure of the PWWII development project which is illustrated by the African experience. Despite its many failings, the PWWII development project is still thriving in Africa, with the latest continent-wide development project, NEPAD, receiving much attention there and in the rest of the world. NEPAD is a project rooted in the kind of development thinking so despised by post-development theorists and, while many excellent critiques of NEPAD have been written,6 critics 378

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of NEPAD and similar projects could enrich their critiques if they were to consider the following insights offered by post-development theory: The PWWII development project has failed not only because it was frequently badly implemented, but also because it was misconceived. One of the reasons why the PWWII development project can be considered to be misconceived is because it is based on the universalisation of Western experience, and does not take into account the diversity of experiences, needs and aspirations of those it claims to assist. A dismissal of the PWWII development project must not mean an end to attempts to solve the problems it purported to be able to address (such as poverty, deprivation and inequity), but rather as the pursuit of alternative ways to address these problems. African difference, African diversity and the question of alternatives The rst section of this paper claried what post-development theory means by alternatives to development and the second section has illustrated the relevance of post-development theory to the African context. I hope now to draw these two sections together by looking at how a consideration of the African experience of the PWWII development project can be valuable to those trying to articulate alternatives to this project. I will argue that the way in which Africa is different from the West and Westernised world in terms of the values, world-views and lifestyles of its people (from now on referred to as Africas difference); as well as the way in which Africa is home to diverse people groups who experience the world in diverse ways (from now on referred to as Africas diversity) can provide some pointers for those who are trying to conceive alternatives. Africa remains markedly different from the West. While Western inuences are certainly evident in Africa, there are many aspects of African life which are relatively untouched by such inuences. Africans, for the most part, still converse in indigenous languages (although Western languages are used in business and government), many Africans still live in African-style homes and eat almost exclusively African-style foods. Most importantly, Africans worldviews and value systems remain noticeably different from those of Westerners.7 Culturally Africans remain clearly distinct and African lifestyles are signicantly different from the lifestyles embraced by those in the West. This cultural difference has been considered relevant for the success or failure of the PWWII development project. A recent publication, entitled Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress (Harrison & Huntington, 2000), discusses the relationship between culture and development. One chapter, authored by Daniel Etounga-Manguelle (2000), focuses specically on African culture and how African cultural values have affected the way in which the PWWII development project has occurred in Africa. Etounga-Manguelle recognises the failure of the PWWII development project in Africa and blames this failure on the persistence of what he calls African culture.8 He argues that, if the PWWII development project is to succeed in Africa, Africans need to undergo a cultural adjustment programme in order to get rid of progress-resistant values and to inculcate the 379

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right values in Africans.9 While I nd the suggestion that African values are wrong and that Africans need to adopt values more common in Western societies in order to succeed ridiculous and abhorrent, I think EtoungaManguelle makes one important point: a project premised upon a set of values cannot succeed in the absence of those values. Just as a car cannot drive on a river and a boat cannot oat down a road, a project which has its roots in particular assumptions and values cannot succeed in the absence of the relevant assumptions and values.10 Thus it is not entirely false to say that African values have been obstacles to the success of the PWWII development project (although this is only one of the many factors that can be said to have contributed to the failure of this project in Africa).11 Etounga-Manguelle concludes that certain African values are incompatible with the PWWII development project and therefore that these values must go. However, he ignores the obvious alternative: perhaps the values ought to remain and the PWWII development project should go. The persistence of these progress-resistant values may be cause for dismay among those committed to the PWWII development project, but it is surely cause for celebration among those who have declared the PWWII development project obsolete and bankrupt. If Africa does not have the values needed for this form of development to succeed, then those who believe that Africa would be better off if it did not succeed, can hope that these progress-resistant values may be of assistance in the articulation of alternatives. Thus Africas difference may provide some key pointers towards a different set of goals and practices aimed at better addressing problems such as poverty, deprivation and inequity. In addition to being different from the West, various African communities are different from one another. While certain values appear to be more common in African cultures than in other cultures, there is considerable diversity among the cultures of Africa. Africa can be said to be home to a number of different ways of understanding and being. Those who recognise the poverty of the way of understanding and being that underpins the PWWII development project, will nd this diversity encouraging as it opens up the possibility of building a different set of values and principles upon which a different understanding of development can be constructed. Kothari (1990: 4950) argues something similar with regard to Asia and the Middle East, pointing out that the variety of religions and civilisations present in India and the Islamic world can be a rich source of ideas for those looking for alternatives. Africa too has many religions (and many of its own manifestations of world religions like Islam and Christianity) and many civilisations, and Africa too should thus be considered a valuable source of ideas for those who are committed to nding alternatives. This is not to imply that African ways of life are necessarily superior to other ways (nor necessarily inferior), nor to say that Africa ought to be the unique or primary source of the values and world-views informing the articulation of alternatives, but rather to make a much more basic point: in Africas diversity there is a rich variety of ways of understanding and being and this variety can provide seeds for thought for all those (both African and non-African) who question the PWWII development project and who would like to nd a different way to address the problems it purports to be addressing. It is not only possible to theorise that Africas difference and diversity can 380

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provide hope that alternatives to the PWWII development project can be articulated in Africa, but it is also possible to observe ways in which Africas difference and diversity is already leading to the articulation of alternatives. Theorists loyal to the PWWII development project lament the way in which African communities have failed to achieve development, but are blind to the possibility that some of these communities may have rejected the kind of development such theorists propose and may be actively trying to meet their needs and full their aspirations in a different way. Instead of embracing the goals and practices of the PWWII development project, some African communities conceive of different ways of addressing problems of poverty and inequity by drawing on African cultural values and perspectives. The book Reinventer le present (NDione, 1994)one of the few books with an African focus that appears to be rooted in a perspective compatible with post-development theorydiscusses the experiences of several communities in Senegal, and shows how these communities reject the PWWII development project rather than simply failing to achieve this projects objectives. These communities reject the PWWII development project because their values are different from those that they perceive to inform this kind of development and because their values are precious to them (NDione, 1994). The Post-Development Reader includes a chapter based on this book (NDione et al, 1997). In this chapter it is pointed out that several of the assumptions which are core to the PWWII development project are far from universal, and that their lack of universality results in the rejection of the PWWII development project by communities who do not share these supposedly universal assumptions. One example given relates to different assumptions with regard to the exchange of goods. Conventional development theorists presume that Person A will give what she has in excess to Person B with the expectation that Person B will in turn give what he has in excess in proportion to the value of what he received from Person A. However, some Senegalese communities assume something quite different: they assume that to give confers respectability on a person, and that Person A, who has in excess, will give without any expectation of a measurable and equivalent return, because the act of giving (rather than having) confers prestige (NDione et al, 1997: 371). This is one small example, but it illustrates the important point that the values that the PWWII development project assumes to be universal are not. Development projects cannot succeed unless the values which inform them are shared by the community in which they are implemented. Thus it is not that Africans reject development in its broadest sensein other words positive social change that leads to a better life for the inhabitants of the society undergoing the changebut rather that some Africans reject a particular manifestation of development (the one I have labelled the PWWII development project here) because it is incongruent with the values they hold dear. The Cameroonian theologiansociologist Jean-Marc Ela (1998: 3) makes this clear when he says:
Africa is not against development. It dreams of other things than the expansion of a culture of death or an alienating modernity that destroys the fundamental values so dear to AfricansAfrica sees further than an all-embracing world of material

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things and the dictatorship of the here and now, that insists on trying to persuade us that the only valid motto is I sell, therefore I am. In a world often devoid of meaning, Africa is a reminder that there are other ways of being.

Comments and conclusions The failure of the PWWII development project, in Africa and the rest of the so-called developing world, must be recognised. After half a century of theories and practices claiming to bring about development, the poor remain poor, inequities persist and grow more stark, and aspirations to a better future remain, for the most part, only aspirations. Post-development theorists have pointed out the failings of the PWWII development project, and have suggested that these failings are the result of deep aws in the ideas which inform this project of development, rather than just supercial problems regarding the way in which the project has been implemented. In the light of these aws, they assert, the PWWII development project ought to be abandoned altogether. These conclusions lead to a questionif we abandon the PWWII development project, what is it that is to guide our attempts to better our lives, to alleviate suffering and to structure our societies so as to eliminate poverty and inequity? What are the alternatives to the PWWII development project? If what we need is not new processes and practices, but new guiding ideas, where will we nd these ideas? In this paper, I have suggested that a consideration of the African experience is valuable for those who are keen to articulate alternatives. This is not to say that it is Africa alone that is home to the values and world-views that will allow for construction of alternatives. Rather, it is to say that Africa too (in addition to other regions) can be a truly valuable source of insights for those committed to considering alternatives to the PWWII development project. Thus far, African academics have not paid much attention to the arguments of post-development theorists, and post-development theorists have paid relatively little attention to the African experience. If this situation changes, the values and attitudes which have contributed to the failure of the PWWII development project in Africa could become building bricks for those keen to conceive of new ways of addressing the problems which the PWWII development project has failed adequately to address. These building bricks can be joined by building bricks from other parts of the world, and cemented together by careful consideration and debate between all who are committed to constructing a new lighthouse to replace the collapsing ruin of the PWWII development project.

Notes
1

Among such scholars are Alvares (1992), Escobar (1984, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995), Ferguson (1990), Illich (1979, 1997), Kothari (1990, 1995), Latouche (1993), Rahnema (1992, 1997), Rist (1990, 1997) Sachs (1992), and Seabrook (1993). This can be seen in Sachs (1992) The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, which is almost exclusively a critique of development. Escobars (1995) Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World only tackles the question of alternatives in the nal chapter, and Latouche (1993) only begins to explore the question of alternatives in the penultimate chapter of his book In the Wake of Afuent Society: An Exploration of Post-development.

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3

5 6 7

9 10

11

Like Nustad (2001), I believe post-development theorys critique of development to be useful, despite several limitations. In the interests of space I will not provide a detailed discussion of post-development theory, but will work from the assumption that it is a set of valuable and useful ideas, regardless of its limitations. In the case of sustainable development, there is most often an attempt to maintain a commitment to economic growth, industrialisation, modernisation and other key aspects of pwwii development, while simultaneously preventing environmental destruction. It should be acknowledged here that there are other ways of interpreting sustainable development, but that the dominant understanding of sustainable development is the one described. Consider here Ela (1998), Dahl & Megerssa (1995) and NDione et al (1995). Consider for example Bond (2002), Civil Society Indaba (2002), Longwe (2002), Nabudere (2002), Ngwane (2002), Pheko (2002), South African Catholic Bishops Conference (2002) and Vale (2002). I am not here trying to suggest that there are several inherent differences between Africans and Westernersthat the two groups of people are and always will be essentially different. Rather, I would like to make a much more simple point: Africans living today live in ways that are different to Westerners living today, and there are signicant differences between the world-views and value systems that are commonplace in contemporary Africa and those in contemporary Europe and North America. This is not to deny the diversity in both regions, nor to suggest that the two are permanently and essentially different. Etounga-Maguelle believes that Africa has a foundation of shared values, attitudes, and institutions that binds it together, and that it is these values, attitudes and institutions which are to be blamed for the failure of development in Africa. See Harrison (2001) for a summary of Etounga-Manguelles argument. I would like to emphasise here that I am not saying that a project with roots in certain assumptions and values can only succeed in the culture in which the project originates, but rather that it can only succeed in a culture which has the relevant assumptions and values (although the two cultures may differ in several signicant ways). Thus, the PWWII development project could be said to have succeeded in various cultural settings, but I would like to argue that certain key values and assumptions are common to all cultures in which the PWWII development project succeeded, even while the cultures were also different in certain ways. Writers like Etounga-Manguelle can be criticised for ignoring the inuence of colonialism (which Etounga-Mangeulle says cannot reasonably be blamed for Africas condition), the exploitation of Africa, and the inequities of the global economic system which, along with several other complex factors, must also be considered when determining why the PWWII development project failed in Africa.

References
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