Quote Originally Posted by bourbon View Post
This is true if the nation is not trying to receive or readjust a loan from the International Monetary Fund or World Bank. If they are trying to receive or readjust a loan, that prerogative can become a condition for structural adjustment.
The ability of the IMF to enforce such conditions has always been questionable. Since the Chinese came on the scene offering loans and grants untied to domestic reforms that ability has been eroded even further. Chinese financing is of course directly tied to Chinese perceptions of their own interests, but that hasn't generally been a problem in coming to what might politely be called mutually satisfactory agreements with African elites.

The days when the IMF/WB clique could dictate policy to African nations are long gone. That may not be any great loss, as the attempts to impose policy were generally cheerfully distorted by African elites for their own benefit and the consequences for the populaces involved were less than wonderful, but it remains to be seen whether the new evolution will improve anything. I am not optimistic.