EFFECTS OF THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS POLICIES ON PERIPHERAL AFRICAN ECONOMIES: A THEORETICAL-ANALYTICAL REASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF POLICY SPACE IN STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION
Abstract
This article critically reassesses the effects of Washington Consensus policies on peripheral African economies between 1980 and 2010, proposing an analytical framework that integrates three dimensions: the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis on the secular deterioration of terms of trade, deployed as an analytical lens rather than an empirical law, Carlos Lopes's diagnosis of growth without transformation, and the concept of policy space as a central mediating variable. Adopting a theoretical-analytical approach based on plausibility inference, the study examines the extent to which the erosion of policy space constitutes an explanatory mechanism consistent with the observed trajectory of structural stagnation, confronting this hypothesis with three rival explanations: pre-existing institutional weakness, political instability, and external shocks. Data compiled by Lopes (2019) from Economic Commission for Africa estimates show that Africa's share in world manufacturing value-addition declined from 1.9% in 1980 to 1.5% in 2010, while Africa's population grew from approximately 10% to 15% of the world total, and African GDP growth remained below 1% per year between 1979 and 1992. The main contribution lies in the reconceptualisation of policy space as a mediating variable, the integration of the three analytical dimensions within a single explanatory chain, and the definition of conditions for refutability of the hypothesis. The article concludes that the convergence of evidence supports the plausibility of the thesis, and that the proposal for deliberate industrial policy is conditional, depending on the institutional capacity available in each context.
Author Biography
PhD candidate in Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences/UAN. Master’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, Agostinho Neto University. Luanda, Angola.
References
ACEMOGLU, D.; JOHNSON, S.; ROBINSON, J. A. The colonial origins of comparative development: an empirical investigation. American Economic Review, Nashville, v. 91, n. 5, p. 1369-1401, 2001.
ADEDEJI, A. Structural adjustment policies in Africa. International Social Science Journal, Paris, n. 162, p. 521-528, 1999.
AMIN, A. A. Africa's development: institutions, economic reforms and growth. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Mersin, v. 3, n. 2, p. 324-336, 2013.
ARCHIBONG, B.; COULIBALY, B.; OKONJO-IWEALA, N. Washington Consensus reforms and economic performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: lessons from the past four decades. Washington: Brookings Institution, 2020. (Working paper, dez. 2020)
CEA – COMISSÃO ECONÓMICA PARA ÁFRICA. Macroeconomic policy and structural transformation of African economies. Adis Abeba: CEA, 2016. ISBN 978-99944-92-27-5.
CHANG, H.-J. Kicking away the ladder: development strategy in historical perspective. London: Anthem Press, 2002.
FOSU, A. K. The African economic growth record and the roles of policy syndromes and governance. Helsinki: UNU-WIDER, 2009. (Background paper, European Report on Development, abr. 2009)
FOSU, A. K.; GAFA, D. W. Economic neoliberalism and African development. Pretória: University of Pretoria, 2020. (Working paper, 2020-74, ago. 2020)
HUSAIN, I. The macroeconomics of adjustment in sub-Saharan African countries: results and lessons. Washington: World Bank, 1994. (Policy Research Working Paper, 1365)
LEWIS, A. W. The theory of economic growth. Homewood: Richard D. Irwin, 1955.
LOPES, C. Africa in transformation: economic development in the age of doubt. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01291-5
MKANDAWIRE, T.; SOLUDO, C. C. Our continent, our future: African perspectives on structural adjustment. Dakar: CODESRIA, 1999.
NOYOO, N. Structural adjustment programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s and 1990s: implications for social policies and social rights. Revista Brasileira de Economia Social e do Trabalho, Campinas, v. 4, e022012, 2022. https://doi.org/10.20396/rbest.v4i00.16536
PREBISCH, R. The economic development of Latin America and its principal problems. New York: United Nations, 1950.
RODRIK, D. The globalization paradox: democracy and the future of the world economy. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011.
SAHN, D. E.; YOUNGER, S. D. Growth and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: macroeconomic adjustment and beyond. Ithaca: Cornell University, 2003. (SAGA Working Paper, maio 2003)
SINGER, H. W. The distribution of gains between investing and borrowing countries. American Economic Review, Nashville, v. 40, n. 2, p. 473-485, 1950.
TIMMER, C. P. The agricultural transformation. In: CHENERY, H.; SRINIVASAN, T. N. (ed.). Handbook of development economics. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1988. v. 1, p. 275-331.
WADE, R. Governing the market: economic theory and the role of government in East Asian industrialization. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
WILLIAMSON, J. What Washington means by policy reform. In: WILLIAMSON, J. (ed.). Latin American adjustment: how much has happened? Washington: Institute for International Economics, 1990. p. 7-40.
WORLD BANK. Accelerated development in Sub-Saharan Africa: an agenda for action. Washington: World Bank, 1981. (Berg Report)
License
Copyright (c) 2026 RECIMA21 - Revista Científica Multidisciplinar - ISSN 2675-6218
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Os direitos autorais dos artigos/resenhas/TCCs publicados pertecem à revista RECIMA21, e seguem o padrão Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0), permitindo a cópia ou reprodução, desde que cite a fonte e respeite os direitos dos autores e contenham menção aos mesmos nos créditos. Toda e qualquer obra publicada na revista, seu conteúdo é de responsabilidade dos autores, cabendo a RECIMA21 apenas ser o veículo de divulgação, seguindo os padrões nacionais e internacionais de publicação.