African Reactions to the Global Economic Crisis

In spite of widespread claims by multilateral institutions that Africa survived the world economic crisis and subsequently prospered, there are many indications of worsening socioeconomic conditions and dis-accumulation, especially once we factor in non-renewable resource extraction. One of the most extreme cases of decline, hidden by superficial indicators, is South Africa. The post-1994 trajectory included a re-structuring along standard neoliberal lines that left the country far more vulnerable. South Africa’s problems included long-term stagnation tendencies, but the more serious policy problems associated with higher unemployment and inequality, deindustrialization, capital flight, high interest rates, higher debt loads, speculative real estate, and a dramatic rise in the current account deficit were a result of a pre-2008 political balance of forces. In 2008-2010 and again in mid-2011, the on-going global economic crisis worsened most of these problems, leading to an obvious conclusion: Less vulnerability to world economic trends would be advantageous for South Africa and for the continent as a whole. Social movements from Egypt and Tunisia in the North to South Africa and Swaziland in the South have made neoliberalism a central component of their critique of mal-governance and will continue to do so in macro-economics and micro-developmental campaigns.