THE MARGINALIZATION OF AFRICA

Sub-Saharan Africa is now more marginalized from the world economy tha n at any time in the past 50 years: its shares of world trade, investm ent and output have declined to negligible proportions and its economi es have become more inward-looking, contrary to the trend elsewhere. T he author examines four possible explanations for this marginalization : insufficient reform, insufficient scale, the high-risk environment, and the weakness of agencies of restraint. Using 1994 survey evidence on the perceptions of foreign investors, he ranks these explanations, concluding with comments on the role of the West in the search for sol utions.