African in the Debt Trap: Which Way Out?

Trevor W. Parfitt; Stephen P. Riley

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00007151

African in the Debt Trap: Which Way Out?

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

Trevor W. Parfitt and

Stephen P. Riley

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Trevor W. Parfitt: Affiliation:
Department of Humanities, Huddersfield Polytechnic
Stephen P. Riley: Affiliation:
Department of International Relations and Politics, North Staffordshire Polytechnic, Stoke-on-Trent

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At the October 1985 meeting in Seoul of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, African delegates insisted that ‘the economic situation is the worst in recent history’.Indeed, it is now widely accepted that the states and peoples of sub-Saharan Africa are in the midst of a crisis of unprecedented magnitude that has been caused by both short-term and long-range factors. Domestic food production has been declining, whilst food imports have increased, and this has exacerbated the televised disasters of drought and famine. The recession in western countries has led to a decline in the external demand for African primary products. Export volumes and values have decreased overall, producing significant fiscal problems, and the resulting foreign-exchange shortages have meant industrial stoppages, an inability to replace infrastructures, and a decline in the gross domestic product.

Type: Africana
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , September 1986 , pp. 519 - 527

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00007151 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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^{Page 524 note 2} Ibid.

^{Page 524 note 3} Ibid. 21 October 1983, p. 7.

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