L'Afrique subsaharienne est en perte de vitesse depuis le début des années 1980. Selon la Banque mondiale, les pays africains ont commencé à marquer le pas au cours des années 1970. Et si la tendance actuelle se poursuit, ils se retrouveront au niveau des plus pauvres pays de l'Asie du début du siècle. Déjà plus de treize pays, représentant un tiers de la population, ont aujourd'hui un revenu par habitant plus faible en termes réels que lors de leur accession à l'indépendance (Banque mondiale 1989). Pour les pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest, la récession est telle que le taux global d'investissement est retombé en dessous de son niveau de 1960, ce qui est un bon indicateur du développement de l'afro-pessimisme dans cette région. Bien que les causes de cette crise soient multiples et complexes, celle-ci résulte principalement cependant du fait que les économies africaines sont structurées autour de la production et de l'exportation de deux ou trois matières premières. Or les termes de l'échange se sont brusquement effondrés au cours des années 1980 et le pouvoir d'achat des exportations des pays d'Afrique noire est aujourd'hui la moitié de ce qu'il était il y a dix ans. (Oliveira et Diomandé 1993). Par exemple, les exportations de café n'ont rapporté à la Côte d'Ivoire en 1992 que 46,5 milliards de francs CFA et celles de cacao juste 247 milliards de francs CFA en 1985 (Bamba et al. 1992). L'économie ivoirienne étant structurée autour de la production et de l'exportation de café et de cacao, il en résulte que le taux de croissance du PIB ivoirien en termes nominaux est négatif depuis 1987 alors que la population continue de croître au taux de 3,8 % par an.
ISBN: 0850-5942
CODESRIA 1996
This book is the outcome of a South-South conference jointly organized by the Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA), the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in Dakar, Senegal, May 2012. The conference was organised in response to the financial crisis of 2008 which started in the United States and Europe, with reverberating effects on a global scale. Economic problems emanating from such crises usually leave major social and structural impacts on important sectors of the society internationally. They affect living standards and constrain the well-being of people, especially in poor countries. Persistent problems include high unemployment, increased debt and low growth in developed countries, as well as greater difficulties in accessing finance for investment in the developing world. There is a need for countries in the South to examine the available options for appropriate national and regional responses to the different problems emanating from the economic crisis.
This book attempts to provide ideas on some strategic responses to the disastrous impact of the crisis, while keeping in mind the global common interest of the South. It is hoped that the book will contribute significantly towards the agenda to rethink development and the quest for alternative paradigms for a just, stable and equitable global political, economic and social system. A system in which Africa, Asia, and Latin America are emancipated from the shackles of hegemonic and anachronistic neoliberal dictates that have nothing more to offer than crises, vulnerabilities and dependency.
José Luis León-Manríquez holds a PhD in Political Science from Columbia University, New York. His research interests include international relations and economic development in Latin America and East Asia. He was a member of the Mexican Foreign Service and Deputy Director of the Matías Romero Institute of Diplomatic Studies. He is editor or author of nine books and more than 100 book chapters and journal articles. Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Politics and Culture of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Mexico City.
Theresa Moyo is Acting Director of the Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership, University of Limpopo, South Africa, where she is also a Senior Lecturer on the Master of Development Programme. She holds a PhD in Economics from Dalhousie University, Canada. Earlier, she was a lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Zimbabwe. She also has experience in microfinance and was the Executive Director of the Southern Africa Microfinance Capacity Building Facility (SAMCAF), Harare, Zimbabwe. Her research interests include local economic development, trade and regional development, and development finance.
ISBN: 978 286978 637 0
CODESRIA 2015