On 30 May 1967, Lt.-Col. C. Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Nigeria's Eastern Region, announced the secession of Eastern Nigeria from the Federation and the creation of the sovereign and independent state called the Republic of Biafra. The birth of Biafra was the product of a long and bitter blood feud between the conservative, Muslim, Hausa-Fulani people of the North and the progressive, Christian Ibos of the East. The roots of the hostility are deep, but the immediate impetus for the break-up began with the military coup d' état of I 5 January 1966, in which the civilian régime of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa was overthrown and several leaders assassinated.

Political instability upsets particularly those observers whose own countries have had no experience of it for many generations. They often exaggerate its effect on social and economic life and expect the activities of society practically to cease, where governments topple. But, beyond this miscalculation of effects, observers sometimes conclude that governmental instability in the developing countries reflects some human inferiority of their peoples. Unfortunately this kind of belief also tends to take root among literate opinion-makers in the developing countries, who often are no better than outsiders in interpreting the complexities of their own situation. In this development there are dangers of damage to political and social morale which could be much more serious than temporary phases of internal economic disruption and foreign disinvestment. What in fact are the reasons for the fall of governments in post-colonial Africa?

Representative institutions are a feature of political systems everywhere. The political systems of the new states that have emerged since World War II are no exception. Despite the far-reaching changes made by them in the institutions bequeathed by their colonial masters, they have almost everywhere retained, albeit with significant modifications, the representative assembly.

In this article, I have put down some very tentative thoughts on loans, firstly as they are used in financing small-scale African enterprises, and secondly as a service that African businessmen give to their customers. These remarks arise out of research in progress, and may well need to be revised when the findings are more complete, and have been analysed. Meanwhile, I hope that what follows will suggest a few ideas in a field of development where there are many problems, but little previous experience and knowledge to go by.

In September 1966, possibly for the first time in history, large numbers of Jews paid homage to a man with a notorious anti-Semitic past—Dr Hendrik F. Verwoerd, the late Prime Minister of South Africa, assassinated while he sat in his parliamentary seat. London's Jewish Chronicle reported that in Johannesburg overflow crowds attended memorial services in the city's Great Synagogue and Temple Israel. Verwoerd was eulogised by a rabbi as ‘one of the greatest Prime Ministers, if not the greatest’ that South Africa had ever had; and in Cape Town, the chief rabbi stated that Verwoerd had been the first man to give apartheid a ‘moral basis’1

The first third of the 1960's was marked by growing concern over the inadequacies of the international economic system and a series of ambitious initiatives for its reform. The Kennedy Round of negotiations conducted through G.A.T.T. (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) was launched with the avowed aim of ending protective tariffs and related obstacles to world trade. Almost all governments, central banks, and international monetary organisations supported—in one form or another—international liquidity reform in order to break the artificial dependence of trade expansion on gold mining and on United States and United Kingdom payments deficits, and to replace these variables by a managed system, based on an international reserve unit. Both the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (O.E.C.D.) argued the case for expanded, longer- period, development assistance on easier terms and with fewer ties to purchase the exports of lender or donor countries. Spokesmen not only of developing but also of industrial economies appeared to endorse this line of argument. Regional economic integration among developing economies moved out of the realm of academic speculation and vague speeches and into the category of political-economic programmes for early implementation.

Although the number of Africanists in Poland has never been large, a scholarly interest in Africa has long existed in this country. Among the scholars of the older generation, the most prominent were: L. Krzywicki, a sociologist with a wide interest in social change and development, who published several studies on the transition from traditional to modern societies, with special attention to Africa; J. Czekanowski, who was among the first explorers of Rwanda and other Interlacustrine kingdoms, publishing several extensive studies both in German and Polish; and B. Malinowski, who later established himself in Great Britain.

The aims of I.E.D.E.S. (the Institute for the Study of Economic and Social Development), which is directed by Professor Francois Perroux and forms a part of the Collège de France, are both to teach and to make comparative studies of the economic, social, cultural, administrative, and other problems arising from the present situation and the potential development of the so- called under-developed and developing countries. It is the only really important university institution in France whose aims are so defined. During the past io years it has already undertaken and completed a considerable number of activities, which are summarised below under three main headings. These activities will be continued in our study of the different countries of Africa.

The chief purpose of the West Africa Committee, established in May 1956, is to aid and stimulate the economic development of the English-speaking West African countries—Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Gambia—by firms, companies, and individuals from outside West Africa, to the mutual economic advantage of these countries and of the members of the Committee.

This, the broadest and most thoroughgoing confrontation to date of African and Scandinavian writers, took place at the inter-Scandinavian cultural centre near Stockholm. More than 20 African writers, including representatives from North Africa, Ethiopia, ‘Black Africa’, and South Africa (refugees) took part in the conference, among them some outstanding personalities: Albert Memmi, Wole Soyinka, Tchicaya U'Thamsi, George AwoonorWilliams, James Ngugi, and Ezekiel Mphahlele, to mention only a few. A similar number of writers from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway took part; tours and social arrangements made it possible for the African writers to meet a further selection of Scandinavian writers and artists and to become acquainted with local scenery and institutions. The initiative for the conference was taken by the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, the Swedish Institute for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and the Swedish Council for Overseas Information.

This conference was the third in a series of biannual conferences organised by academics and civil servants working in agricultural economics in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Delegates from Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, U.S.A., and the F.A.O. also attended and participated in the discussions. The conference was financed by the Ford Foundation, organised and sponsored by the Economic Research Bureau of the University College, Dar es Salaam, and supported by the three East African Governments.

The 50 participants in this conference included academics and practical workers, students of and from Africa. Four panels, each led by four members, shared experiences and research on these topics: ‘Local-National Government Activities in Community Development’, ‘The Place of Co-operatives in the Development of the Economy of the Region’, ‘Work at the Local Level on the Improvement of Agricultural Production’, and ‘The Role of Local Authorities as a Channel for Financial Assistance’.

This seminar was held at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, under the general chairmanship of Dr I. M. Lewis of University College, London. It was organised by Dr Richard Pankhurst and ProfessorJ. Comhaire, with financial assistance from the British Ministry of Overseas Development. The seminar was attended by anthropologists currently engaged in field-work and by members of the Haile Selassie I University's Faculties of Arts, Law, Medicine, Business Administration, and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, as well as staff of the Ministry of Community Development and Public Health. A number of visiting scholars, including Professor V. L. Grottanelli, participated in the meeting. Reports were received on field-work in Somalia and the Sudan as well as in Ethiopia: and the following papers were given: Dr D. Hecht on ‘Sacred Kingship in Africa’Fekadu Gedamu on ‘The Social Organisation of the Kistane Gurage’; J. Stauder on ‘The Social Organisation of the Mahangir’Dr. M. Lewis on ‘Possession Cults in Northern Somalia’A. Orent on ‘The Doce Cult in Kaffa’Virginia Luling on ‘Spirit-possession Cults in Mogadiscio’Terefe Walde Tsadik on ‘The Muyat Cult in Shoa’R. Hallpike on ‘Status of Craftsmen among the Konso’M. Cittadini on ‘Kunama Marriage’and J. Lisowski on ‘Biometrics of N.E. African Migrations’. Development papers were given by P. Sand on ‘Law as a Factor of Social Change’G. Savard on ‘Social Factors in Development’M. de Young on ‘Markets in Ethiopia’S. Messing on ‘Medical Attitudes and Practices in Ethiopia’and R. Bahar on ‘Rural Housing in Ethiopia’.