A NEW AFRICA IN THE 21ST CENTURY: WHAT POLICY AGENDA, WHAT CONDITIONS? Sadig Rasheed Policy Management Report Number 4, European Centre for Development Policy Management, Maastricht, 1996
✍ Scribed by JOAN CORKERY
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 55 KB
- Volume
- 17
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-2075
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Two statements by Sadig Rasheed (Director of the Public Administration Division, ECA, Addis Ababa) in this wide ranging and incisive paper, delineate its main thrust. First, on page 11, he points out that there is no viable alternative to Africans taking effective charge of their destiny and deliberately creating the conditions that are essential for effecting the desirable change in their fortunes'. Secondly, he suggests that the Bretton Woods institutions must create space for African countries to realize these goals'. With these two statements, Rasheed identi®es two of the main elements of today's capacity development agenda.
The author looks at the implications of these two statements for African countries and for their partners. He identi®es the responsibilities each has to assume in order to make a new partnership work. He does not underestimate the dif®culties to be addressed. Neither does he take an unduly pessimistic view of the present situation. What is contained in the paper is a realistic overview of the institutional environment both within Africa and among the partners of African countries.
Sadig Rasheed does not claim to have all the answers. He realizes that there is no certainty that the ideas he suggests will actually work. But, in a world where there is wide emphasis on the need to give Africa `ownership' of its own development, it is important to get a proper perception of what might be involved in achieving this. The views of such an experienced African writer are thus timely and useful.
As he concludes, `a new ethic in international development cooperation with Africa must emerge if Africa is to change its fortunes for the better'. This paper will help those most closely concerned to develop this new ethic to arrive at an adjusted balance in the relationship between, on the one hand, the African countries who must take charge of their own affairs and, on the other, their non-African partners whose support will be needed for some considerable time.