Structural Stability in an African context

Abstract

During late 2000, a number of German scholars in the field of African Studies initiated a policy debate through a widely circulated and publicly discussed ''Africa Memorandum." It offers a new conceptual approach to foreign and aid policy issues on Africa, centred on the notion of structural stability. The concept has since resulted in a wide range of both supportive and critical responses and engendered a lively debate among scholars, policy makers and aid bureaucrats. The relevance of the concept in not limited to a German audience. It offers stimulating and thought-provoking inputs for debate in the wider European context of bilateral and multilateral relations with Africa.