Adjusting Africa by Claire Melamed tries to tackle the issue of how were adjustment measures applied in various countries across Africa over the last ten years and how did they aect the development processes in those countries.
The book argues that structural adjustment, though widely adopted by many African countries, was not the panacea of the continent's problems. More speci®cally, `it is far from clear that adjustment led to growth', while, ironically, decline in the human welfare indicators have been observed.
To construct her arguments, the author presents a clear, yet comprehensive, review of adjustment policies since their historical and theoretical inception through their economic and sectoral performance to their direct and indirect eects, especially the social eects, all the way to the alternatives to dealing with Africa problems. She concludes that development programmes should take into account the inter and intra `complex and contradictory realities' as well as for the countries to take more control over the determinants of their development.
Aware of the fact that all African countries are not alike nor is the way the adjustment policies were applied, yet, recognizing some similarities in the policies adopted, the author has enriched the book with case studies that help better visualize the problem, the solutions adopted and the eects. The boxes, tables and the glossary included in the book add to its usefulness to its readers.
Adjusting Africa is an introduction to the economic policies implemented in Africa, addressing both specialized as well as wider concerned public.