AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS

78 SABRINA BRANDT
resource development policy and a focus on building infrastructure with
an eye on possible competitive advantages in the future. As in the East
Asian development model, this requires strong public-private partnerships
in order for national development to benefit from these arrangements,
as well as policies that enhance state capabilities.
Rather than market-oriented, the Latent South Consensus can be seen
as market-friendly. Instead of large scale liberalisations, a strategic integration
into world markets is favoured. This means a strong focus on
regional integration. Liberalisation of imports as well as that of the capital
account can expected to proceed more gradually. There can be a
strong focus on attracting foreign investments. Economic nationalism,
according to Gore, can be compatible to market capitalism:
This is not ideologically committed to self-sufficiency or public ownership,
nor hostile to foreign ownership in and of itself. It does not seek the appearance
of catching up, through either imitating consumption standards,
or setting up showcase industries. It respects multilateral rules and arrangements,
engaging in their design, negotiation and interpretation. But
its aim is to build international competitiveness as part of a long-term national
economic project founded on the development of national capabilities.
(2000: 789)
5 OWNERSHIP IN THE EDPRSP OF RWANDA
[The PRSP] is a lengthy document – over 85,000 words – offering a richness
of information and analysis that is rare in PRSP documents (...) Even
Rwanda’s Summary 34-page (13,000 words) version is longer than
Uganda’s full PRSP (Golooba Mutebi et al 2003: 257)
Although this remark is about Rwanda’s first PRSP, its second EDPRSP
of 166 pages which is analysed here is no less extensive. Since the policies
are more detailed it will be interesting to see if there are also alternative
policies mentioned. However, due to conciseness issues, it is impossible
to include every detail here. I will therefore consider the main
policies required to answer the question whether the EDPRSP reflects
only the Washington Consensus or if it also includes an alternative
Southern consensus.
Rwanda is a small, land-locked country in the centre of Africa. Its recent
history is known for the massive genocide that occurred in 1994.
Although Rwanda’s economy was struggling before that, the genocide
gave it a disastrous blow. After 1994, the transition government focused