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The key concern is the report's failure to address the global context of debt, and the role played by industrialized nations in both creating and sustaining the present situation in which they have a dominant influence over the lives of people in Africa and the resources of the Continent.

The report also fails to address the need for African countries to have in place protectionist measures to protect infant industries in Africa, and instead favours the extension of current conditions and demands which will make African economies more exposed and more vulnerable.

Significantly, the Report avoids critiquing the roles of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund which have gravely damaged African societies and economies, particularly through the structural adjustment policies (SAPs) and so-called poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) they have imposed on indebted countries. Among such damaging policies are trade liberalisation, shifting of peasant production from food crops to cash crops and privatisation of state enterprises. Such impositions have over decades adversely affected African societies and economies.

The most serious flaw in the Commission Report is the underlying assumption that greater integration into the global economy is the way to heal Africa's many wounds. This analysis is superficial and flies in the face of the historical evidence. A much more searching and honest examination of the situation is required, incorporating the views not just of neoliberal African leaders, as was the case with the Commission for Africa report, but including and seriously considering the views of African civil society. .

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