Markets, democracy and African economic growth: liberalism and Afro-pessimism reconsidered

The links between good governance and economic reform are widely assumed within a liberal perspective and have been embodied in the structural adjustment policies adopted in sub-Saharan Africa. The questionable propositions that market reform offers the most efficient path to economic growth and that democratic reform is a necessary condition for economic reform to fulfil its potential are critically examined and suggested to be deficient. The existence of a market economy is not the only effective framework for growth; nor is the presence of market institutions a sufficient or necessary condition for the emergence of demands for greater democracy. Finally, democracy is neither a necessary condition for growth nor a generator of growth-creating reforms.