Should Africa Promote Stock Market Capitalism?

Abstract In a recent paper exploring the relationship between a country's financial system, industrialisation and economic development, I concluded that stock markets are potent symbols of capitalism but paradoxically capitalism flourishes better without them (Singh 1997). It will be argued in this paper that contrary to the international financial institutions (IFIs) who are encouraging and assisting Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries in establishing stock markets, this conclusion is particularly applicable to economies in that region in their present circumstances. For many SSA countries stock market development would be a costly irrelevance which they can ill afford; for a number of others such an evolution is likely to do more harm than good.