[3] It has been characterized as the collective response of African states to the growing reliance of Western economies on the ideology of neoliberalism, which was summed up in the World Bank's 1981 Berg report, which replaced the LPA as the guiding economic document for Africa in the 1980s.
The plan also highlighted a main cause of the problem with Africa's food production to be the lack of proper attention and resources to rural life.
The Lagos Plan of Action called for "significant progress" to be made towards achieving a "50% reduction in post-harvest food losses.
[1] The LPA also called for a "coherent national food security policy" with "concrete actions" for each member state.
From 1980 to 1990, the plan aimed for Africa to have "1.4% of the world industrial production" while achieving self-sufficiency in food, building materials, clothing, and energy".
[1] In the short term, the plan aimed to have "at least 1% of the world industrial production" and start the foundational process for achieving self-reliance in the long run.
It also repeatedly acknowledged the lack of adequately trained human resources and called for the full utilization of its labor force as necessary for the continent's development.
[1] Also the plan stressed the value of supporting the "free movement of labor within sub-regions" to "facilitate employment of surplus trained manpower" to other Member countries in need.
[1] The Plan advised Member States that international aid for human resource development is "welcome and supplementary to the African self-reliant effort".
The plan called for member states to hold science and technology fairs on a regular basis to encourage the exchange of knowledge between African scientists.
The development of human resources trained in science and technology and the creation of a competitive research environment was deemed vital.
The Lagos Plan of Action called for the creation of an African Common Market and the improvement of domestic trade at both national and regional levels throughout Africa.
The Lagos Plan of Action declared the African energy situation to be disturbing and rising at a rate that should cause serious concern.
[1] In the long term, the plan recommended exploring fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear power, and new and renewable energy sources.
These included organizational machineries, education and training, employment, communications and mass media, health, nutrition, and family life, research, data collection and analysis, and lastly legislative and administrative matters.
To achieve its goals of self-sufficiency and reduced foreign reliance, African Member States had to improve its capabilities to execute the implementation plan.
The creation of statistical programs to aid with national development as well as improved population and demographic data collection techniques were called for by the plan.
[1] The Lagos Plan aimed to fix a large number of problems and faced an uphill battle of achieving its goals.
At the Eleventh meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of Trade in April 1991, the Economic Commission for Africa gave their review of the impact of the Lagos Plan.