The balance of payments deficit is an imbalance in a nation's balance of payments in which payments made by the country exceed payments received by the country. It is also known as an unfavorable balance of payments because more currency is circulating in the country than is coming in. An unequal flow of currency will reduce the money supply in the nation and have implications on inflation, unemployment, production and other factors of the national economy (political, social, cultural and economic factors). I agree with the statement that political, cultural, social and economic factors have forced African countries to have a constant balance of payments deficit. Below are some findings and some supporting points as to why these factors have contributed to the balance of payments deficit in Africa. Africa is still today grappling with the problem of how to separate private interests from public ones. The ancient feelings that still characterize much of the continent as such make it difficult to draw a line of demarcation between the elementary public, i.e. the indigenous sphere defined in pre-colonial moral, ethnic and geographical terms and, to a certain abstract extent, inherited from the colonial state . (Governance and the Economy in Africa. Tools for Analysis and Reform of Corruption IRIS, University of Maryland, 1996, p.9) Corruption - It is argued that to win an election in Africa or in the developed world it is necessary to raise funds especially in one scenario in which minority parties feel disadvantaged. Therefore the need for more funding to ensure a level playing field is necessary and this cannot be stressed enough. However, because parties in Africa are also generally poor in terms of funding activities, they usually beg for funding from agencies that… middle of paper… the implications of the problems are never fully understood. REFERENCES SAFRODAD (2002 ) Civil society participation in the PRSP process: a case for Tanzania. KwikPrint, Harare Zimbabwe.Africa South of the Sahara (2004) by Europa Publications.Bradshaw, S. and Linneker, B. (2003). Challenging women's poverty: Perspectives on gender and poverty reduction strategies from Nicaragua and Honduras. CIIR-ICD: London.Desai, V., & Potter, R. (2008). The companion to development studies. Hodder Education: London. Available from: http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/prsp.htm [Accessed 20 March 2011]Girling John 1997, Corruption, Capitalism and Democracy, Routledge, LondonHashim, Osman.(1966) . The Journal of Modern African Studies. Cambridge University Press.www.europaworld.com (accessed 26 March 2011)www.apnacafrica.org/docs