Winning the War Against Humiliation Report of the Independent Commission on Africa & the Challenges of the Third Millennium Book

The summary of the independent work of the 'Millennium for Africa' project for the UNDP. Teveodjre's report is introduced by Amartya Sen who characterises his analysis as 'going beyond the developmental literature...marshalling the historical perspective to understand the nature - origin, durability and tenacity - of contemporary adversities', and of 'diagnostic force'. The work is conceived in, and captures, the spirit of Africa's permanent struggle - practical and psychological - against humiliation and marginalisation, and its lack of dignity and self-confidence throughout history, from times of slavery, to colonialism, the debt/aid trap and globalisation. The author shows how this humiliation manifests itself now in the brain- drain, and in relative levels of development aid and external debt, currently running at an average of over sixty percent of GDP in Sub- Saharan Africa, and increasing. Nevertheless Tevoedjre presses on the reader the imperative to maintain a positive mindset, and to remember that 'in this gloomy setting, the slightest progress is of priceless value'. He then transforms his historical analysis into detailed discussion of new opportunities and ideas, and financial and psychological restructuring, the stakes of a brighter future.