 |
Stephen Golub entertains his Senegalese students during
a luncheon at his home.
|
Because of the extraordinary political and economic developments
in Africa, U.S. Fulbrighters have often found themselves in pivotal
positions in their countries of assignment. During his 1998-99
grant to Senegal, Stephen Golub, a professor of economics at Swarthmore
College, not only taught at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar,
but also served as a consultant on a World Bank project to devise
a strategic plan for developing the country's private sector,
which planners considered essential to lowering Senegal's substantial
unemployment rate. The plan was presented at a national seminar
in late April chaired by the U.S. ambassador to Senegal, Dane
Smith, and the nation's president, Abdou Diouf.
Golub explained, "For a long time, the government has intervened
heavily in the economy, but Senegal is trying to give freer play
to market forces in order to stimulate investment and growth.
There is massive under-employment and poverty, and the only real
solution is to create an environment that is conducive to employment
creation in the private sector. I am helping them figure out how
to do this." Golub is planning a visit to Senegal for continued
research in the summer of 2000.
Please contact us
if you would like to submit your own story and/or photographs.
|
