The Role of International Financial Institutions in Africa

Abstract

Africa remains the poorest continent in the world. It has continued to crack under the weight of poverty, epidemics, state failures, wars and social discontent over the past few decades. Towards the end of the 1970s and through the 1980s the failure of many states across the world, particularly in Africa, and the associated incapacity of political institutions to instigate enduring development drew responses from international financial institutions (IFIs) aimed at redressing the institutional decay and public service ineffectiveness that characterized most African states. This was complicated by the engulfing waves of globalization that penetrated state boundaries and changed the existing political economy of Africa, an economy that was hitherto disarticulated by colonial powers. This chapter critically assesses the role of IFIs in Africa, and found that their interventionist roles makes African economy subservient to global capital. It concludes by identifying the root causes of their failure to instigate the sustainable economic development of the African continent and the ways in which Africa could benefit from IFIs’ facilities.