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Debt speaker tour
11- 22 October 2003
Demba Dembele (right), an economist and Director of the Forum for African Alternatives in Senegal had a hectic schedule, speaking at Glasgow, Bristol (view Bristol pictures), London, Kendal, Manchester (view Manchester pictures), Darlington, Sheffield and Birmingham in 12 days in October. He spoke to audiences of well over 50 people at each event, informing them of the devastating impact that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank policies has had on the economic and social development of his country.
He highlighted many examples including the failed privatisation of the state-owned electricity company. The promises of improving the electricity supply were broken and the supply actually deteriorated under privatisation. The private company neither invested nor reinvested the profits, and power outages increased, contributing to a significant economic slowdown. The expected benefits to the domestic economy did not materialize: most of the profits were transferred abroad, the company used mostly external consultants, and it paid Senegalese employees a fraction of that given to expatriates. The electricity supply has now returned back to being state owned and the power supply has since improved.
Demba Dembele has written a report for the World Development Movement (WDM) - Debt and Destruction in Senegal - a study of twenty years of IMF and World Bank policies.
Transcripts from the London meeting, which was held at the House of Commons and chaired by Ann McKechin MP, Chair of the All Party Group on Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, are now available in Word.
- Peter Hardstaff, Head of Campaign Policy, WDM
- Dembe Dembele, Director of the African Alternatives Forum
- Steve
Rand, Co-chair, JDC and Director of Tearfund
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