 Dependency redux: why Africa is not risingIan Taylor Review of African Political Economy, 2016, vol. 43, issue 147, 8-25 Abstract: Whilst numerous accounts claim that the continent is on the rise, driven by high growth rates and supposed better governance and economic policies, Africa's dependent position in the global economy is being reified. This article seeks to analyse the dynamics which are accompanying a notional ‘rise’ of Africa but which are actually contributing to the continent being pushed further and further into underdevelopment and dependency. It calls into question the superficial accounts of a continent on the move or that declare that the continent has somehow turned a definitive page in its history. A ‘rise’ based on an intensification of resource extraction whilst dependency deepens, inequality increases and de-industrialisation continues apace, cannot be taken seriously. A model based on growth-for-growth's sake has replaced development and the agenda of industrialisation and moving Africa up the global production chain has been discarded. Instead, Africa's current ‘comparative advantage’ as a primary commodity exporter is celebrated and reinforced. History repeats itself. Date: 2016 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:revape:v:43:y:2016:i:147:p:8-25 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2015.1084911 Access Statistics for this article Review of African Political Economy is currently edited by Graham Harrison, Branwen Gruffydd Jones, Claire Mercer, Nicolas Pons-Vignon, Aurelia Segatti and Ray Bush More articles in Review of African Political Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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