The quest to end poverty in Africa : the implementation of the right to development

Abstract

After the Second World War, global institutions such as the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), among others, were established to drive development processes and ensure a better life for all. However, the advent of these institutions ignored providing adequate protection against continuous marginalisation and abusive exploitation of the African continent and its resources by global powers. This has resulted in levels of underdevelopment currently experienced in Africa. On the contrary, most of these institutions failed the African continent. For instance, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and later the WTO became the venues for advancing the proliferation of unfair trade rules and practices to the detriment of Africa. Similarly, the international financial institutions with their excessively biased debt repayment arrangements have systematically ensured the exclusion of Africa from the global economy.