M.Comm. / The debt and general development problems experienced by the peoples of Africa have been the subject of wide discussions and investigations by many officials of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and related organisations, the commercial banks, private industrial corporations, scholars from all over the world and last, but not least, the Sub-Saharan countries themselves. I have been intrigued by the great differences in opinion as to the reasons for the growing socio-economic plight of the Sub-Saharan countries. Even more fascinating, but frustrating, have been the widely different solutions suggested by the parties involved, be they the World Bank, the Fund or the countries themselves. It has, with the passing of time, dawned on me that not only are the phenomena under investigation of great sublety and complexity, but the different angles from which they are being scrutinised and evaluated, are to such an extent befogged by the totally different cultures, that one could not hope for any form of synthesis. The research and compilation of this thesis has been a great adventure in the world of scarcity and the implications of economics being the science of human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.