Abstract
Background: Africa remains one of the least developed continents in the world. What remains debatable is how countries on the continent find themselves in this situation after more than 50 years of independence for most of them. Aim: This article attempts to join the debate on the crisis of development in Africa by first taking a clear departure from the common narrative of linking Africa’s development challenges largely to exogenous factors. It critically examines how to build African states’ capacity for development by first addressing prevailing politics of ‘clientelism’, ‘prebendalism’ and ‘neo-patrimonialism’ in Africa. Setting: The article holds strongly that impacts of exogenous factors have been over-romanticised and therefore there is a need to take a deeper look at how most African countries at the moment find themselves in their precarious situation. Methods: The study is qualitative in nature and relies on secondary sources of data. Results: The article locates the crisis of development in Africa within the context of the failure of African states to intervene in the process of development, which incidentally is a product of the lack of commitment to development by African political elites as well as an absence of the capacity for development by techno-bureaucratic institutions. Conclusion: The main ingredient in enhancing development of Africa is competent, meritocratic and ‘result-oriented’ techno-bureaucratic governance. Thus, for effective techno-bureaucratic governance that would generate development, commitment of state actors and capacity of the state itself are important.
Highlights
We have seen a Prince becoming a slave, and we have seen a slave becoming wealthy. (Anonymous African Proverb)Africa is both the birthplace of humankind and the cradle of civilisation
Flowing from the above argument, the article posits that without absolutely isolating the impacts of external variables on the problem of socio-economic development of Africa, this article attempts to look beyond this commonly held narrative on African development by locating the problem within the crisis of leadership and states’ ineffectiveness in Africa, which is based on the backdrop of existing sociopolitical structures of most countries on the continent
This practice can be linked to the weak material and financial base of the new political leaders, who in their view had been economically marginalised by the discriminatory economic policies of the colonial regime
Summary
Africa remains one of the least developed continents in the world. What remains debatable is how countries on the continent find themselves in this situation after more than 50 years of independence for most of them. Aim: This article attempts to join the debate on the crisis of development in Africa by first taking a clear departure from the common narrative of linking Africa’s development challenges largely to exogenous factors. It critically examines how to build African states’ capacity for development by first addressing prevailing politics of ‘clientelism’, ‘prebendalism’ and ‘neopatrimonialism’ in Africa. Setting: The article holds strongly that impacts of exogenous factors have been overromanticised and there is a need to take a deeper look at how most African countries at the moment find themselves in their precarious situation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
