Critical assessment of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPIC) Initiative in Africa and the Implication of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) (2001-2016): a theoretical perspective

Many African countries have been struggling to achieve sustainable economics in order to contribute in putting Africa in the path for socio-economic development. This is partly due to the burden of debt that hangs over many African countries that borrowed funds from multilateral partners irresponsibly. As a result of this, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank put in place in 1996 a strategy to provide debt relief to countries that were struggling to repay their debts. This debt relief initiative was reviewed in 1999 to provide adequate results. This paper is, therefore, a critical assessment of HIPIC and the implication of NEPAD from 2001 to date.

Keywords: HIPIC, NEPAD, IMF, World Bank, socio-economic development.
JEL Classification: H62, H63