WS: I think your point is well-taken, and it also pertains to other parts of the world. The IMF "structural adjustment" policies (imho, an ideologically driven effort to "stomp out the reds" and eliminate all vestiges of state socialism) may have inadvertently contributed to the growth of slums and poverty, but are not a cause, let alone the main one.
One need to look first for internal forces and causes, as blaming foreign influences is the usual cover up strategy. Among them are: - population growth - local kleptocracy and clientelism (nourished by the Soviet and Western influences during the Cold War) - internal conflict or warfare - failure of agrarian reforms and getting rid of the land owning class - weak position in the global markets ( i.e. dependence on raw material/agricultural exports; lack of "attractive" commodity that may successfully compete in the global markets).
This is not say that the IMF and company have nothing to do with the third world poverty, but theirs is mostly the sin of the omission (i.e. not doing anything to help or standing in the way of those who wanted to help) rather than that of the commission.
Wojtek