Africa: Why the North fails to understand the South

There were huge differences in the way delegates form the rich North and poor South perceived the development problem at a recent conference in Paris on “Poverty, Inequality and Growth”, writes Sampie Terreblanche, emeritus professor of economics at the University of Stellenbosch in This Day newspaper. "First, it seems the North is not aware of how globalisation has compounded the underdevelopment of the South over the past 25 years. Second, it appears the North does not appreciate the seriousness and the unique character of the development problems in sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa excluded). The dogmatic propagandists of the status quo have promised the people of the South that global capitalism will in due course be highly advantageous to them. But in the greater part of the South, especially in Africa, the cost of global capitalism is real and the burden heavy."