Economic crisis, long waves and the sustainability transition: An African perspective

To make sense of the global crisis and a possible transition, many re-interpret the past as a set of successive long-term development cycles that could repeat in future. At the same time environmental pressures have resulted in the notion of a green economy. It is argued that the current global economic crisis simultaneously marks the end of the post-WWII long-term development cycle, the mid-point of the information age and potentially the start of a new era of sustainable development. It must be recognised that only certain futures are being imagined with Africa's options largely ignored. As African growth rates rise as demand for its resources increase, it is necessary to question whether Africa is appropriately positioned to take advantage of the next long-term development. The new discourse of ‘resource nationalism’ is promising, but only if governance modalities can be found that can transcend the resource curse.

► Many popular accounts of the crisis depict the past and the future in terms of successive long-term development cycles.
► Recent UN Reports refer to the need for fundamental ‘structural transformation’.
► The global crisis could trigger a transition to sustainable development if the power of financial capital can be dislodged.
► Africa remains dependent on primary resource exploitation – this ‘resource curse’ will need to be broken.