11 - Beyond the NIEO: Self-Reliance as an Alternative Vision of Postcolonial Development

Summary

This chapter investigates the roles of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and its subsidiary bodies, in particular the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning, in conceptualizing and propagating “self-reliance” as an alternative to the associative models of development advanced by the UN Conference on Trade and Development and later the New International Economic Order. In contrast to the latter’s focus on integrating newly decolonized nations into the capitalist world economy, proponents of self-reliance prioritized fulfilling the basic needs of the greatest share of Africa’s population in the postcolonial era. The ECA thus aimed to create meaningful change on regional and continental levels through path-breaking research and advisory services, which ultimately proved unsustainable in the face of the non-cooperation of sovereign governments but anticipated later debates about food (in)security and climate justice.