The economic crisis in Southern Africa: Some perspectives on its origins and nature

The crisis of development in most of Southern Africa has come to be regarded as an inevitable outcome of the failure of post‐independence development policy in those countries. That policy failure eventually led to the need for policy reform, which emerged most dominantly in the form of structural adjustment programmes. This article, which is a comparative analytical review, examines the origins and nature of the economic crisis in Southern Africa and the policy framework giving rise to it, drawing on country examples to illuminate and illustrate the analytical perspective.     

ECOWAS and labor migration in West Africa

The effects of the protocol adopted in 1980 by the 16 member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) concerning the free movement of persons within the community are examined. The author describes the problems for individual countries posed by unrestricted international migration and suggests that the protocol allowing free international migration and the right of residency and settlement among member states be revoked.     

The contribution of foreign direct investment to exports

Insufficient capital and foreign exchange have often been portrayed as key constraints to the growth and development of less developed countries. These economies have thus come to rely on foreign direct investment as a means of increasing their capital base and foreign exchange reserves and, via the operation of foreign subsidiary firms, as a strategy for increasing the production not only of locally consumed commodities but also of exports. This article focuses on the latter aspect.