Sub-Saharan Africa : Into the Next Millennium

A continent in transition takes sustainable poverty reduction as the ultimate and overarching objective of all development strategies. In the last 5 years, several studies have examined the global and African experience with a view to developing a broad framework for pursuing this objective. These include the World Bank's long-term perspective study on Africa, several human development reports and world development reports. The present study looks at Africa's development agenda in the mid-1990s and asks questions such as: 1) what has happened to the landscape of Africa's political economy over the last 5 years? 2) What have we learned about the development process? 3) How is the development agenda unfolding as we look to the next decade? And 4) what are the respective roles of the partners in African development? The answers to these questions constitute the findings and recommendations of the study. However, as important as these findings and recommendations is the fact that these evolved out of extensive consultations with African countries and donors. This process of consultation, especially with African stakeholders, contributed to a valuable dialogue, paving the way for understanding and consensus on a number of issues. Both African countries and donors need to make efforts to learn from the past, from each other and others, such as from the East Asian experience. Ultimately, however, Africa's development strategy will have to be fashioned in Africa. Realizing this strategy in any meaningful, broad-based and sustainable manner will be possible only through a dynamic partnership between the African people, governments and donors.