3.1
Development planning, 1960–1979
At independence, African states were often
structured around the top political leaders in the
executive branch who could act as benevolent social
guardians (Teranishi, 1996). These leaders, who had
emerged from long years of struggle in countries
such as Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and
Zambia, had a vision to build a nation-state and set
development goals. They were motivated by high
aspirations to improve the livelihoods of their people,
and many chose the mechanism of development
planning. And despite differences in approach, their
development policies were informed by the “high
development” theory prevailed at the time.