Perspectives on African Finance and Economic Development

My purpose is to address broadly the role of finance in economic development and make some recommendations in the context of Africa. As a financial economist, I have devoted my entire career to helping promote knowledge in the field of finance, but with no particular regional emphasis. My regional interest is quite recent. In August 1991 I went to Ethiopia after twenty years of absence and was afforded ample opportunity to observe the economic state of affairs there. The country has grown backwards, to say the least! As it turns out, the economic misery of Ethiopia is not uncharacteristic of the rest of Africa, particularly the Sub-Sahara region.