Developing Countries and International Trade—an Alternative View

In: The journal of modern African studies: a quarterly survey of politics, economics & related topics in contemporary Africa, Band 8, Heft 4, S. 605-616

Abstract

In a recent article in this Journal, J. F. Rweyemamu argues that existing trade relations between the developed and less developed countries are a major cause of the latter's poverty. In fact, he asserts that 'the U.N. General Assembly emphasis on trade under the existing international division of labour is not only misplaced but may be regarded as a calculated strategy by the capitalist countries to mislead the developing countries'. Since trade is supposed to impoverish the developing world, Rweyemamu recommends measures leading to less reliance on the external sector and, more specifically, a programme of heavy industrialisation, in which 'it can hardly be over-emphasised that import substitution and export promotion are not relevant as basic selection techniques'. I feel not only that Rweyemamu's policy proposals are detrimental to the interests of the developing world, but that the statistical findings and theoretical discussion from which they are derived contain both errors and omissions.