Jenifer
Lindsay, Glasgow
3rd May, 2019: Its such a big
contrast-when the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and the African
Development Bank, project Tanzania’s growth among the world’s fastest growing economies in
the coming decade, the International Monitory Fund (IMF) is trying to thwart the
speed and misguide this East African nation from being a positive influence to
other African countries.
Watching one Dr. Mumbi on his online
Dr. Mumbi Show, I came to understand that Tanzania and IMF were held in logger
heads over the IMF report which refuses to consider concerns of “the one in the
trench,” Tanzania’s side of the story and forces its “feelings” over the
country on what appears to be another misguiding advises to derail the
country’s blossoming economy.
This reminds me of a recent study that
my cousin edited providing a spotlight of findings that shows lending
conditions imposed by IMF has undermined “state capacity” both in developing
nations as well as in some Latin and Eastern European countries.
The conditions and poor advice from
some unskilled IMF staff and experts prevented state bureaucrats from
implementing essential policies in health, education, and national security.
It is this uncovered agenda that has
continued to perpetuate the poverty of most African countries despite wallowing
in great riches. The study has now made it clear, whether by intent or without,
IMF harbors sinister motives.
When Tanzania demanded its concerns to
be considered in the report, instead, IMF deliberately leaked the report to the
media and their known puppets inside the country. This is against the rules
unless it is a sabotage. A respective country must consent to the issuance of
the report, IMF instead has leaked it.
Again, a sinister motive for the
country which demands reforms to end exploitation done to Africa for centuries.
These reforms are said to have affected IMF through its customers and
shareholders.
IMF claims a weak business environment
and the implementation of projects that may not have high rates of return were
likely to constrain annual GDP growth. So, when will Tanzania implement these
transformative public investments?
Africa must wake up to these
deliberately humiliating measures which stagnant development of the continent.
Tanzania is implementing large public investments which include a hydropower project
projected to generate 2,115 megawatts of power to support its industrialization
drive.
This means some of the manufactured
goods from my own so called developed West will no longer find markets in
Tanzania when the industries in the country are in full swing. Africa must
change. This generation needs to end neo-colonialism to develop Africa.
How IMF policy Reforms Weaken the State
Researchers from the hometown Universities
of Glasgow, Cambridge, Bocconi, and Royal Holloway analyzed the IMF’s loan
documents to evaluate the relationship between IMF-mandated policy reforms and
bureaucratic quality in developing countries.
The team collected over 4,500
loan-related IMF documents to identify policy conditions imposed on 131
borrowing countries between 1985 and 2014.
In the report released in March, they found
that public administrations become weaker when they need to implement
“structural” reforms that target the public sector and the privatization of
state-owned enterprises as advised by IMF experts.
The authors of the study, published in
the American Journal of Sociology, say their findings show the IMF
neglects the harmful consequences of its policy advice on state capacity, and
that IMF attempts to “shape political economies in the image of Western countries”
are “misguided”.
Dr Bernhard Reinsberg, lead author of
the study and lecturer in International Relations since October 2018, said:
“Much of the previous research on the socioeconomic impact of IMF programs has
focused on economic growth, but neglected how such programs transform state
institutions. This is surprising given what we know today about able states as
necessary conditions for economic development.”
Good examples are drawn from the
following cases:
- The IMF required several countries in Central and Eastern Europe to eliminate or merge ministries, resulting in a decline in the ability of administrators to implement government policy;
- The IMF frequently pushed for wage cuts to civil servants, making it difficult for governments to attract and retain qualified personnel – as was the case for Gabon in 2004.
Co-author Dr Thomas Stubbs added:
“IMF-mandated policies need to be carefully designed so as not to undermine
local institutions.”
He continued that “The IMF should phase
out its structural reforms and focus on its core mandate of helping countries stabilize
their economies, as proposed by its founding father John Maynard Keynes.”
A Kenyan charismatic talk show host Dr
Mumbi Seraki who calls the Tanzanian reformist leader, John Magufuli awesome
leader, appeals to all other African countries to wake up to this reality.
Described as one of the strong women on
a mission for a better Africa, Dr Mumbi says Dr Magufuli is the African
President to watch.
The results of Dr Bernhard Reinsberg
research increasingly rally support within the African nations toward
Magufuli’s rightful stance and this opens doors for a fresh air of development
for most downtrodden African nations.
Since independence in 1961, Tanzania
has been on the forefront to advocate for the continental leadership to attain
full independence. This East African nation coordinated liberation wars against
occupation powers of southern African countries. The nation is rich in natural
resources and is described as the land of talents.
*The author of this
article, Jenifer Lindsay, is a social scientist with many years of work in
Africa. She currently lives in Glasgow, Scotland.
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