A critical exploration of international financial institutions as agents of neo-colonialism and their impact on Africa

Abstract

The objective of this mini-dissertation is to provide an analysis of the international legal obligations of International Financial Institutions (hereafter “IFIs”), with a particular focus on the Bretton Woods Institutions namely, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and whether their legal limitations facilitate an unspoken neo-colonial agenda. Hence, the mini-dissertation provides a brief history of the establishment of the Bretton Woods Institutions and their initial colonial agenda within the context of international law. It then examines the operations, mandates, and economic policies of IFIs, and explores the extent to which the conditionality of foreign aid introduced by IFIs has contributed to their neo-colonial agenda. The mini-dissertation also links dependency theory to the neo-colonial agenda of IFIs, and explores how the dependency of developing countries on developed countries is attributable to the stringent conditions of foreign aid, which has advanced the neo-colonial agenda of IFIs and engendered underdevelopment in Africa. Overall, this mini-dissertation provides a critical analysis of the neo-colonial agenda of IFIs and their impact on Africa, and highlights the importance of international legal obligations and dependency theory in understanding this complex issue.