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Abstract

The argument advanced in the earlier chapters does not entirely preclude the possibility of appropriate technology in the public sector. What was emphasized, rather, was that most offers of external finance for public sector projects in Africa emanate from developed economies and that this type of finance (in conjunction with related project inputs) is generally associated with inappropriate technology. In practice, of course, exceptions to both these generalizations occur. Finance and other project inputs do sometimes originate in developing countries, where, to a somewhat greater extent than in the industrialized market economies, conditions tend to favour the development of relatively appropriate technologies, but even developed-country sources of external finance may at times lead to appropriate forms of technology in the public sector. The purpose of this chapter is to show how a number of exceptional cases from Kenya and Tanzania can be explained in these terms and to assess the lessons for policy that such cases might suggest.

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© 1995 Jeffrey James

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James, J. (1995). Appropriate Technology in the Public Sector. In: The State, Technology and Industrialization in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230377196_6

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