VI.I Genesis

 The hope for economic and social development was born for millions in formerly colonised countries a little more than 50 years ago. This hope is still as big for the African people as was socialism for the proletariat in Western countries. Political decision makers, technicians, elites and the civil society interiorised development and presented it to the people as the ultimate solution to their problems. The average results obtained, although contrasted, of the development of sub-Saharan Africa, calls for the re-examination of the concept of development and all its implications in the reference framework of the ECOWAS region. Is it a crisis of development or a crisis of development theories? Economists have for a long time argued, prepared strategies and policies, constructed robust abstract models and in spite of all, the results of development remain modest.

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