Rethinking the idea of independent development and self-reliance in Africa

Abstract

From the standpoint of this paper, a central problem of development in Africa is the fact that the very norm of development, as a people’s aspiration, is not conceived of at the African level, but at the international level, by institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Furthermore, the strategies for Africa’s development are also not thought out and initiated at the African level, but at the international level, via Western-directed foreign aid and external trade schemes. This paper argues that, for Africa, external trade and foreign aid are not the panacea for attaining genuine development but that, on the contrary, they are rather instruments of dominance, manipulation and exploitation. Western conceptions and strategies of development should be offensive to Africa’s sense of sovereignty; and they have failed, and will continue to fail, to bring genuine and autonomous development to the continent. Africa’s development must, therefore, be conceived by Africans to focus, not on growth but, on human beings and the concern for their well-being. The paper concludes that the path to follow in achieving a dignified African model of development is self reliance.