Of the 30 poorest countries of the world, 21 are in Africa (World Bank, 1995). The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa points to the scarcity of a financial capital base for the initiation, stimulation, promotion, and sustenance of development activities as being the root of underdevelopment and environmental degradation in Africa (UNECA, 1992). Availability and suitability of imported technology to local situations is also a problem (SARDC, personal communication, 1996).

Lack of or slow growth, particularly in central and northern Africa, has contributed significantly to the overall low aggregate regional output. The annual average growth rate from 1990 to 1993 was a mere 1.5 per cent, barely half of the regional population growth rate (UNECA, 1993b). Western Africa did better (2.7 per cent), while central Africa stagnated (UNECA, 1993b). In the last few years, however, nearly half the countries have diverged from the general trend, reaching rates between 3 and 8 per cent, with three of them exceeding even the 8 per cent level (UNDP, 1996).

Poor people are most at risk from environmental damage, whatever the cause. In economies based on natural resources, which most African countries are, resource degradation reduces the productivity of the poor, increases their susceptibility to extreme weather, economic and civil events, and environmental health threats. Poverty also makes recovery from such events even more difficult. Extreme events, especially those related to weather, appear to be increasing in frequency in Africa (World Bank, 1995).

Most African countries depend on primary commodities for a significant part of their export income. Yet the values of the continent's agricultural and mineral raw material exports have been falling dramatically from the combined effects of stagnation in industrial countries, substitution by synthetics, and competition from, for example, the Commonwealth of Independent States (UNECA, 1993b).

Africa's external debt continues to be a major impediment to the achievement of accelerated economic growth and development. The total debt stock stood at US$313 billion in 1994, equivalent to 234 per cent of export income and 83 per cent of GDP. The debt burden was higher than that of any other region. Four fifths of severely indebted low-income countries (as designated by the World Bank) are in sub-Saharan Africa, and the number is increasing. In sub-Saharan Africa, the average per capita debt servicing load was US$43, compared with US$35 spent on health and education. Nineteen African countries have manageable debt burdens, but even under the most optimistic assumptions, 24 countries will continue to face an unsustainable debt burden (by World Bank criteria) well into the twenty-first century.

There are also problems of high dependence on foreign aid and marginalization in the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI). African development has had very heavy involvement by donors, who in some cases have provided the full funding for long-term development investment activities (UNDP, 1996). But donor-driven development has not always been co-ordinated or fully appreciative of Africa's development efforts and priorities. While FDI increased to Latin America and Asia, Africa's share of FDI remains at less than 2 per cent of total flows (UNDP, 1996). A study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development concluded that, contrary to common perceptions, FDI in Africa can be profitable and at a level above the average in other developing regions (UNDP, 1996).

In the face of declining export earnings and debt burdens, many Governments have tried to boost their cash crop production and timber sales. This has led to further environmental damage as well as forced poor farmers to move further onto marginal lands (UNECA, 1993a). Many of the institutions and infrastructure supporting agriculture often operate inadequately, with little impact on food supply and a lack of support for agricultural technologies (UNECA, 1993a).

Thirty-five African countries have been implementing structural adjustment programmes for more than a decade, and have put in place economic reform measures in an attempt to correct some fundamental economic imbalances and to support private-sector development. Although African Governments are committed to removing obstacles to growth, current projections indicate that socio-economic recovery is still not in sight for most countries (UNDP, 1996). It has also been argued that structural adjustment programmes have been leading to wider gaps between rich and poor (Ohlsson, 1995).