Basil,

Thank you for a thought-provoking piece with very important but complex
issues and concepts. In addition to the good ideas supplied by Mr.Jeng, I
would like submit the following observations/comments with the hope that
eventually the "big picture" will emerge.

You will recall that in your reaction to the AFP press article on the
Libreville summit, you welcomed the IMFs belated change of apprach to macr-
economic management and poverty reduction in sub-saharan Africa; a change
forced on it by the continuous deterioration of the living conditions
despite successful implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programmes
(SAPs) over the years; in the case of The Gambia since 1986.

Why the failure
, despite the huge cost associated with SAPs(redundancies,
reduction in subsidies etc.)?

Apart from the inappropriate design problems, including the "ownership"
issue, the main reasons for the failure have been highlighted in your
piece; namely the rate of population growth and demographic-rated issues,
mismanagement and inappropriate set of economic policies.  There are
numerous other reasons as you have acknowledged in your statement that "
there are numerous and myriad of problems that ned to be addressed such as
inadequate health care and education, lack of physical infrastructure and
capital."

Firstly, I would say in passing that the ownership of future programmes now
rests squarely on African countries in general, and The Gambia in
particular, to conceptualise, design, implement, monitor and subsequently
evaluate them with the full participation of those whose livelihoods are

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