Does Africa need the International Monetary Fund?

International economist Dr Mark Ellyne asks ‘Does Africa need the International Monetary Fund?’ at the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) Great Texts / Big Questions on Thursday 19 August.

Ellyne has spent over two decades analysing African economies. His lecture questions why Sub-Saharan economies have not performed well, even with considerable IMF and World Bank support. “Some view the IMF as part of an international conspiracy to impose Western economic hegemony on the developing world. Others see it as responsible international cooperation supported by advanced industrial countries to avoid another great depression. Is something wrong with the IMF’s economic advice to Africa or is something wrong with Africa?” he asks.
  
Dr Ellyne joined the IMF in 1986 after completing his doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies in the USA. He worked on the economies of 16 African countries during his 23 years of IMF service and lived in both Uganda and Zambia as IMF Resident Representative. He retired from the IMF in 2009 and is currently a visiting lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s School of Economics.

The image Opening Plenary - World Economic Forum on Africa 2009 by World Economic Forum is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license.