African countries have renewed their commitment to cooperation and integration as part of their development and industrialisation agenda. This is after the implementation of Euro-Western development approaches, particularly structural adjustment programmes, have not only failed to steer the much-needed development but also shattered the little that had been achieved since independence. This triggered an urgent need to rethink inward-looking growth strategies. This chapter provides details on some of the strategies and initiatives that African countries have adopted. The chapter draws from a variety of sources, including grey and academic literature, but mainly from the proceedings of high-profile regional and sub-regional gatherings led by the African Union and other sub-regional bodies. The chapter shows that while the existing initiatives have their own weaknesses, the renewed commitment by African countries to cooperate and execute inward-looking development approaches represents the only African-grounded initiative with the potential to steer development and trigger industrialisation, particularly in agriculture, which remains the backbone of the African economy. The chapter concludes that it is only collectivism that could shield African countries from regrouping Euro-Western neoliberalism, which continues to compromise both the rate and the trajectory of development in Africa.

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Post-Structural Adjustment Cooperation in Africa: Prospects for Autonomous Development and Industrialisation

  • Emmanuel Ndhlovu

摘要

African countries have renewed their commitment to cooperation and integration as part of their development and industrialisation agenda. This is after the implementation of Euro-Western development approaches, particularly structural adjustment programmes, have not only failed to steer the much-needed development but also shattered the little that had been achieved since independence. This triggered an urgent need to rethink inward-looking growth strategies. This chapter provides details on some of the strategies and initiatives that African countries have adopted. The chapter draws from a variety of sources, including grey and academic literature, but mainly from the proceedings of high-profile regional and sub-regional gatherings led by the African Union and other sub-regional bodies. The chapter shows that while the existing initiatives have their own weaknesses, the renewed commitment by African countries to cooperate and execute inward-looking development approaches represents the only African-grounded initiative with the potential to steer development and trigger industrialisation, particularly in agriculture, which remains the backbone of the African economy. The chapter concludes that it is only collectivism that could shield African countries from regrouping Euro-Western neoliberalism, which continues to compromise both the rate and the trajectory of development in Africa.