African countries have been advised to take their destinies into their own hands, as the multilateral agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) no longer have anything to offer.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, who made this submission in his presentation at the Eirenicon Africa Public Lecture Series (EAPLS), held at The Royal School of Medicine, London, United Kingdom (UK), recently, said for Africa to emerge from the present economic challenges, there was urgent need to adopt development strategies that fit into the unique nature of the continent, stressing that there must be a clear break from the past.
Sanusi said over the years, the share of Africa in global trade had remained insignificant, despite the implementation of the policies that were recommended by international financial and development institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank, noting that the dismal performance of African economies called to question the effectiveness of such economic ideologies, while he called for a paradigm shift to achieve sustainable development.
He took a swipe at the Washington and Beijing consensuses, stating that while the performances of countries that adopted the Washington Consensus doctrine, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet bloc, failed to deliver sustained growth as promised by its promoters, that of Beijing consensus might not be sustainable in the long-run, because it maintained large state-owned sectors and authori-tarianism, which ran contrary to people's aspirations.
"Africa with its huge natural resources, regional market size and human resources ought not to be a marginal player in the global economy.
Neither the Washington Consensus nor the Beijing Consensus can bring about the desired change. The implications of the structure of African economies need to be critically appraised in order to identify an appropriate African Consensus - for its development model. In this regard, a developmental strategy for the continent would include a framework that embrace competitive regional and international trade, development of critical infrastructural, harnessing of the potential of the huge natural resource endowment, including abundant labour force and large domestic market," he remarked.
Tribune
That's the fact, nothing good should be expected from these blood sucking predator financial institutions. These are institutions guided by the 'Theories of Parasitism'; I hope countries of the developing blocs would learn from the past and tap inwards in order to meet their developmental goals.