CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND CURRENT CHALLENGES __________________________________________________________________________ second period, 1972 to 1990, was marked by the adoption of the revolutionary political regime and, therefore, by the implementation of a socialist-oriented development policy. The third period, called the democratic renewal period, lasted from 1990 until the present. Governance and economic management policies therefore followed these three periods and influenced both the goals and challenges of the economic restructuring of the country. 71. The first period was marked by great political instability, as has been explained above. This instability did not make for the regular and clear direction in governance and structural transformation needed for socioeconomic development, despite the affirmation of the state’s desire to ‘correct’ the evils of colonisation by recommending and implementing state investment in the economic sector. Building a development economy meant taking up another challenge – that of constructing a state capable of managing the development processes given the weaknesses in national private capital. 72. The efforts of the state in this regard were remarkable but limited. Without really trying to escape the colonial structure, inherited from the French economic empire in Africa, the government did develop a public sector at the time. However, it did not shut the door to private investments, as it was aware of the real weight of French capital in the economy and of the weak resources of the state. This meant that the state retained its objectives and challenges of transforming from an economic structure modelled along colonial lines into an integrated economic structure striving for national development, while still remaining open to the world. Furthermore, the postcolonial economic governance and management structures could not define, much less implement, an economic policy of structural transformation. 73. The second period – the period during which socialism was adopted (1972 to 1990) – was marked by a strengthening of the state apparatus, nationalisation of some private enterprises, the creation of new state-owned enterprises, and sometimes also by mixed economy enterprises. In fact, it was difficult for a state without real economic weight and with a neocolonial economy managed from the outside to consolidate socialist developmental logic. It had neither the resources nor capacities to do so. It was fought both from within and outside the country. In reality, the country had been characterised by poor economic governance since the first half of the decade. Aware of the fact that Benin was seriously affected by an economic crisis and a drought, the leaders ultimately declared Benin a ‘disaster country’ in early 1984 and solicited international aid. 74. The end of the period was, therefore, marked by the interventions of the Bretton Woods Institutions. Strict economic stabilisation and SAPs in their classical versions were ‘negotiated’ and implemented through different agreements. These were not successful, either in terms of growth or in terms of the social welfare of the population. This resulted in social agitation, which soon became political demands. The economic and social crisis was, in fact, a reflection of the political crisis of the system and the demands for democracy. The entrenchment of the latter became another aim and challenge for modern 51