Book Reviews 111
individuals and families in various settings. Given the very complicated situations
facing many families in Africa and the limited social work resources available,
good supervision would seem particularly important in providing effective services.
Reviewed by Mary P van Hook, Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa, USA.
Adjustment in Africa: Reforms, Results, and the Road Ahead, A World Bank
Policy Research Report, The World Bank, Washington D C, 1994, ISBN: 0-8213-
2787-9. Price: N/K.
Implementing Structural Adjustment Programmes in Africa has not been an easy
task. This is clearly demonstrated in the report made on policy research by the
World Bank. A study on adjustment was carried out on twenty-nine countries in
Africa, and only six showed some improvement in macro-economic policies and
stronger results in economic performance.
The survey examined macro-economic and sectoral policies and discovered
that poor policies were largely to blame because they did not facilitate growth.
Heavy government spending also contributed to slow growth in the economy.
Those countries with better policies achieved faster growth, but generally government
spending was high, increasing from the early 1960s and reaching a peak of
17% of GDP in 1988. Even though Africa suffered a fall in terms of trade between
1970-80, it was still expected to pay for its external loans. The report clearly
demonstrates how loans and grants affect public income and how changes in terms
of trade have an impact on private income.
The report reveals to the interest of the reader how the macro-economic
situation reached a crisis proportion in sub-Saharan Africa. Scholars will be
interested to see how the report explains the impact of debt crisis in our African
countries and how this has led Africa to lose its access to commercial lending. The
World Bank explains that the sub-Saharan countries can improve balance of
payments by reestablishing a balance between income and spending. It cites
pitfalls that befall Africa and goes on to explain some of the inappropriate
responses that perpetuate.
Sub-Saharan African countries are supposed to have promoted in unleashing
markets, accompanied by high rates of investment in order for competition to help
them improve their allocation of economic resources. Thereportpointsoutthatthe
World Bank in 1991 had recommended countries to try to get price signals right
to promote a good business atmosphere. The survey revealed that governments did
not handle agricultural and trade issues satisfactorily but did well in reducing
administration costs and in the rationing of foreign exchange.
112 Book Reviews
Readers who reside in countries where structural adjustment is implemented
and retrenchment is in process will find Chapter Four absorbing because it deals
extensively with the problems of the public sector and lack of evidence of
significant public enterprise reform.
The World Bank does not only study why and how sub-Sahara Africa did not
succeed but also how reforms are paying off. The part on 'pay off is of interest.
It deals with positive issues in the structural adjustment exercise. The section will
be of interest to those interested in understanding how macro-economic stability
and improved prices for exports, especially agricultural exports benefited some of
the countries concerned.
Most sub-Sahara African countries embarked on development programmes
with an intention of eradicatingpoverty. This has been very slow in Africa because
of slow economic growth, rapid population growth, and fragile resource bases.
Chapter Six clearly puts across reasons as to why a large number of people in
Africa are poor. It also discusses methods of enhancing the capabilities of the poor
and tackling poverty through increasing GDP per capita, by securing the right kind
of growth and investing in social services. Since poverty and environment are often
linked, this section will help the reader understand the interelatedness of the two
phenomena and what could be done to reduce poverty. The World Bank regards
investment in people as the right kind of growth and they defend their view against
the sub-Saharan African accusation that structural adjustment is hurting a lot of
people. The defence given that structural adjustment contributes to faster GDP per
capita growth is accounted here in a very defensive way to convince implementors
to proceed with it To a person who does not have an experience of the effects of
SAP the argument is very convincing.
This World Bank Policy Research Report is an educative thesis for scholars,
economists and other parties interested in understanding why Africa has undergone
SAP, what went wrong in the process of implementation, where the poor are,
what has been achieved and what next can be done if the exercise is to continue.
Reviewedby VioletMatimba.Lecturer, School of Social Work, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Uganda - Social Sectors A World Bank Country Study, The World Bank, Washington
D C, 1993,196 pp, ISBN: 0-8213-2713-5. Price: $11,95.
Uganda, a country once a showcase of Africa, has depreciated during the last three
decadesasaresultof its declining social indicators. Afterreadingthe whole report
one would feel total reconstruction and restructuring is required in all sectors if
restoration of functioning is to occur.