Zaire

Zaire is a country at a crossroads - a land with abundant agriculture mineral and human resources and yet economically deeply paralysed and struggling to implement a successful strategy for social and economic development. These essays by Zairian academics in the fields of politics sociology and economics describe post- independence social structures - so damagingly imitative of colonial patterns - and the inadquacy of the single Party-State regime which has replicated western capitalism. The educational system hardly changed from that inherited from the colonial power is discussed; and an up-to-date economic analysis of the country today is included. A range of measures are recommended which could be adopted by a responsible ruling class; but first they and their western ally must seriously address the questions.