Ten of the 12 poorest countries in the world are in Africa. GNP rose somewhat in the 1990s but remains below population growth. Programs of the international financial institutions and the U.S. government have struggled for more than fifteen years without measurable, sustained success. More than a dozen countries have suffered through civil wars and atrocities. A fragile peace prevails in a handful.
Corruption remains a major barrier to private and public transactions.
Until recently, military dictatorships and one party systems were standard and apartheid reigned in South Africa. Until recently, the response to economic dependence was central planning and closed, directed economies. While hegemonial party-governments and military rule have not been eradicated, they are publicly criticized and institutionally threatened. Multi-party constitutions, while not standard in all states, are now the norm, not an exception. Whereas the public sector uniformly crowded out the private sector in the past in a half-hearted quest for equality of income distribution, it is now slimming down in many places, permitting the pursuit of investment and dynamic growth.