President Houphouet-Boigny set out to deliberately create a contrast to the “state socialism” that had been made fashionable by developing-country titans such as Jawaharlal Nehru in India, Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt and Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia. Houphouet-Boigny resolved that in Cote d’Ivoire no welfare state would be supported, no web of bureaucrats would stifle the vigor of the marketplace, no government diktats would smother private enterprise. In promoting state capitalism, Houphouet-Boigny would frequently quote former West German chancellor Ludwig Erhard: “Let the men and money loose, and prosperity will follow.” And under his long stewardship–which was part paternalistic, part authoritarian and part democratic, until his death in 1993–Cote d’Ivoire was widely perceived as a showcase of economic and social development.
Last week, however, the nine-man military junta that deposed Houphouet-Boigny’s handpicked successor, President Henri Konan Bedie, declared that state capitalism had essentially been a massive fraud. The junta said that Cote d’Ivoire had become a personal piggy bank for rapacious politicians of the ruling Democratic Party (PDCI). In effect debunking Houphouet-Boigny’s long-revered mythic status, Gen. Robert Guei–the former Army chief who seized power on Dec. 24–declared that civilian government under both Bedie (who was permitted to flee to neighboring Togo) and Houphouet-Boigny had fostered only a two-tiered society in this nation of 19 million: the very rich and the very poor. The 58-year-old Guei pointed to the country’s external debt of $20 billion, and to the fact that pledged loans to Cote d’Ivoire had been suspended earlier in 1999 by several foreign donors who cited endemic corruption.
Yet the bloodless coup raised fresh concerns about whether politically fragile states in what used to be called the Third World can sustain democratic forms of governance. And the upheaval in Cote d’Ivoire posed new doubts about whether the year 2000 would indeed usher in what the United Nations has floated as the “African Century.” Here are three ideas that Africa–and developing countries generally–might do well to examine:
A better economic model. Although few developing-country leaders still yearn for Nehru’s benign socialism, there’s increasing recognition that market economics hasn’t benefited many poor states. In endorsing Reaganite “free market” policies, developing-country leaders had always assumed that during the transitional stage there would be continuing support from donors in the form of foreign aid. But in 1999, foreign aid from the 29 richest countries fell to a new low of $40 billion– from a high of $75 billion in 1965. Private investment fell substantially, too, and domestic resources in countries like Cote d’Ivoire couldn’t be mobilized sufficiently to meet the requirements of growing populations and rising economic and social expectations. Add to this the rampant corruption and mismanagement in much of the developing world. Developing countries are bereft of a neat model for economic and social growth, and this in turn has darkened prospects for smoother political governance as poor countries witness rising tides of social and ethnic tensions.
A theme for the new decade. The 1950s were regarded as the decade of independence for a growing number of territories administered by countries such as Britain, France and Portugal. The 1960s represented a time of soaring economic aspirations nurtured by independence, as in Cote d’Ivoire. The 1970s saw world prices for the developing world’s commodities and minerals fetch astonishingly high revenues–which in turn emboldened them to embark on ambitious, and often foolish, development schemes. The 1980s offered a “reality check,” when world prices crashed and developing-country debt rose to more than $1 trillion. And the 1990s have ended with general economic despair for countries left behind by the prosperity engendered by Western-driven globalization. So what will the 2000s bring?
A role for global institutions. The economic, social and political crises afflicting many of the world’s 130 developing nations appear to have demoralized international institutions. These groups have been also hurt by incompetent management, tired ideas and depleted resources. Yet multilateral agencies can provide timely assistance, particularly in humanitarian emergencies and in spurring development at the grass roots.
The African Century that the shamans of the international-development community like to proclaim is, of course, a metaphor for political peace, economic growth, social stability and environmental protection in rich and poor countries alike. During this century, Africa’s population is expected to double to a billion people, while the global population will grow from 6 billion to almost twice that figure. Last week’s events in Cote d’Ivoire may well be a harbinger for a world that universally wants the new century to bring more encouraging news.
