The Role of External Assistance in African Development
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205901400301 |
| Author | Arnold Rivkin |
| Date | 01 September 1959 |
| Published date | 01 September 1959 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Role
of
External
Assistance
in
African
Development
ARNOLD
RIVKIN*
HE
West,
even
if it
would,
cannot
ignore
the
advent
of
TAfrica
on
the
world
stage.
Its
looming
presence
suggests
a
new
and
important
dimension
in
international
affairs.
The
human
and
material
resources
of
Africa,
and
their
potential,
are
already
operative
factors,
account
of
which
need be
taken
in
any
realistic assessment
of
the
international
scene.
The
very
newness and
magnitude
of
the
sudden
"leap
for-
ward" of
Africa
pose
any
number
of
questions
as
to
the
most
appropriate
and
effective role
of
the
more
established
societies
in
African
development.
Some
answers
to
those
questions
are
being
provided
by
the
Africans
themselves in
articulate
pro-
nouncements
obviously
intended
for
audiences
overseas,
and
in
the
initial
actions of
the
newly
independent
states.
Some
are
implicit
in
already
known
features
of
the
African
scene,
especially
the
economic
structures
on
which
the
independent
and nascent
states
now
rest.
Others
are
implicit
in
the
changing
constitu-
tional
and political
relationships
of
Africa
and
the
outside
world.
I
One
of
the
principal questions
confronting
the
free
world
in
deciding
what
role
it
could
appropriately
and
effectively
play
in
African
development
is
that
of
the
receptivity
of
the
indepen-
dent
African
states
to
external
economic
assistance.
Would
it
be
welcomed,
and
if
so,
on
what
terms?
*Research
Associate
in
Political
Economy
and
Director
of
the
African
Economic
and
Political
Development
Project,
Centre
for
International
Studies,
Massachusetts
Institute
of
Technology.
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