In recent years several African countries have embarked on reforms aimed at structurally transforming their economies to minimize their dependence on primary exports and generate greater employment opportunities through value-addition. Meanwhile, the recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable...

The primary purpose of this introductory chapter is to raise a question about why the development of the Third World has evolved over the past five decades in a direction that deviates from the developmental path assumed by the orthodox economic schools of thought. The underlying background to...