It will be considerably incorrect to stipulate that social protection, broadly defined, is a relatively new instrument for development in Africa. Most African countries, in the immediate past independence years, instituted a wide range of social protection measures – from free medical service to free education at all levels to non-contributory pension schemes in the government sector. Some like Egypt, guaranteed employment for all university graduates. In still other countries, there were significant subsidies for food, agricultural inputs, and petroleum products. The marketing and commodity boards provided some form of insurance to farmers.

However, during the structural adjustment years of the 1980’s, many of these instruments fell into disrepute and were abrogated. Policy emphasis was placed more on “economics”, to eliminate distortions in order to engender growth. Social development was seen as an end in itself and not contributing to productivity growth. In this climate, user fees were introduced in health and education and resulted in erosion of the enormous gains made in these areas in the immediate post-independence years. It also made it difficult for countries to allocate significant resources towards disease prevention and guaranteeing quality in the social sector. In the agricultural sector, the removal of agricultural input subsidies and abolition of marketing boards contributed to a significant decline in agricultural and rural incomes and to rural – urban migration. The adverse social consequences of the structural adjustment programmes (SAP) resulted in vocal calls for “adjustment with a human face”.

Concern about the adverse impact of SAP on the social sector led, during the 1980s and 1990s, to the emergence of an international consensus to bring social development back as a frontburner development issue. This consensus found reflection at a number of international fora, including the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development, and was the impetus for the adoption of the International Development Goals, including the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The World Bank and International Monetary Fund similarly became a part of the reorientation when, in the late 1990s they agreed to grant debt relief to heavily indebted poor countries (under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative) but required that debt relief gains be dedicated to the social sector in their poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSP), the prerequisite for debt relief.