Many writers and political commentators erroneously consider the sub-Saharan region as a homogeneous region and as such talk of an African democracy. This article has come out with various patterns that can be observed today across the sub-Saharan region. The democratic snapshots taken show variants emanating from the 4 sub-regions, a states colonial history, the possession of oil, states suffering sanctions and the longevity of the president. Two democratic indexes Freedom House and Mo Ibrahim Index of Governance form the bases for the measurement of democracy in these states. In the majority of cases, both indexes have somehow given the same outlook of a countrys democracy thereby reinforcing the conclusions drawn in this article. In order to proceed to the democratic patterns of these states, prior analyses of the decolonization and the struggle for influence by the Superpowers in the sub-Saharan region was done. These earlier dynamics help us to understand the present democratic patterns better.
Colonialism has influenced the development of states on the African continent. This study examines the extent to which colonialism affects the economic growth and the political democratic development of two former British colonies: Kenya and Nigeria. Two theories, Dependency Theory and Neopatrimonialism Theory, argue that institutions, whether economic or political, established during the colonial period impact modern African states' economic and governmental development. Using pattern matching, I operationalized several variables of study such as economic underdevelopment, functioning democracy, power dynamics, and Settler and Non-settler colonial institutions. The results suggest that government corruption, lack of transparency in elections, poor security forces, and overall economic dependency on the international system impedes Kenya and Nigeria's economic and political development, indicating that underdevelopment relates to policies implemented during their respective colonial periods.
El libro Trajectory of Land Reform in Post-Colonial African States (2019) es otra ambiciosa entrega de la colección Advances in African Economical, Social and Political Development. En este tomo, los editores A. Akinola y H. Wissink presentan una colección de artículos, cada uno de ellos analiza críticamente los regímenes de propiedad de la tierra en varios países de áfrica subsahariano y sus agendas de reforma. La propiedad de la tierra es un tema inabarcable para un libro, por esto, este libro fija como su propósito identificar las tendencias existentes en el uso, la propiedad, la distribución y la tenencia de la tierra en áfrica.
El libro Trajectory of Land Reform in Post-Colonial African States (2019) es otra ambiciosa entrega de la colección Advances in African Economical, Social and Political Development. En este tomo, los editores A. Akinola y H. Wissink presentan una colección de artículos, cada uno de ellos analiza críticamente los regímenes de propiedad de la tierra en varios países de África subsahariano y sus agendas de reforma. La propiedad de la tierra es un tema inabarcable para un libro, por esto, este libro fija como su propósito identificar las tendencias existentes en el uso, la propiedad, la distribución y la tenencia de la tierra en África.
The purpose of this paper is to test the proposition that government is the most important single agent responsible for increases in leveis of economic development in the African States. The States are diverse with respect to political institutions, culture, and economic and social structure. They are similar, however, in that all the states can be considered potential or actual modernizers, almost ali share a colonial heritage, and ali are most appropriately in the "new nation" category in terms of outlook and aspiration. Moreover, economic development, unlike political or social development ,is the common denominator by which developlng nations compare themselves to thetr neighbors and project a national image to the larger world community. Therefore, the States of Africa provide an ideal background for e:z:amining the relationship between governmental activlty and economic development in the developing areas, whithout regard for the Tarious types or kinds ot political and social systems.
In Ghana – The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah (1971), Nkrumah recounts the deliberations within the United Gold Coast Convention on J. B. Danquah's proposal for adopting the Akan art motif Funtummireku Denkyemmireku (Denkyemmireku, for short), the proverbial two-headed crocodile, as emblem for the emerging nation of Ghana. Dismissing it as a "hideous monstrosity" that symbolizes selfishness, it was never adopted. Yet, the art motif, a kind of jeremiad that says pity that poor crocodile, whose two heads cannot stop fighting over food, even though they share one stomach, is a recognition of the dialectic of nature as one of unity in diversity, the very essence of the hallowed African monistic thesis of matter. This paper posits that Denkyemmireku embodies a potent philosophical and ideological symbol capable of serving as a usable past for a much-needed reconstruction of a more legitimate African state. ______________________________ 1Some aspects of this article have been previously published in the Journal of Black Studies by the author. See, Kwasi Boadi, "The Ontology of Kwame Nkrumah's Consciencism and the Democratic Theory and Practice in Africa – A Diopian Perspective." Journal of Black Studies, Volume 30, Number 4 / March 2000, 475–501.
Democracy is a political culture that seeks to promote majority participation in the process and art of governance, with the aim of developing a society; based on the principles of equality, freedom and social justice. This implies that democracy must operate within the confines of a State structure, which means there must be a State before we can talk about the enthronement of democratic culture and institutions. Thus, this paper examined the nature of African States and discovered that Africans are operating a dislocated state structure that is at far variant, with Universal Characteristics of a State. This is so because the contemporary African States are part of African colonial legacy and the failure of African peoples to evolve after 50 years of colonialism are responsible for this state of affairs. Hence, the paper defended the thesis that until Africans reform their institutional arrangement, to reflect the Universal Characteristics of a State Structure, democracy in Africa will not deepen, and development will keep eluding the continent and her people. This reform agenda which the paper is proposing is premised on traditional African values and spirituality. The paper employs the method of critical analysis.
Increased globalisation has played a key role in shaping recent trends and concerns in the economic diplomacy of African states. African states are increasingly interested in becoming more relevant actors in the global economy. The economic diplomacy of African states is primarily a diplomacy of development aimed at improving the quality of life of African citizens. Economic diplomacy at both bilateral and multilateral levels is helping to articulate the key concerns of African states. This diplomacy in recent years has been defined by the engagement of African states with non-traditional partners such as China, India and Brazil and also a strong impetus towards greater economic integration within Africa. The renewed economic growth of African states spurred a much bigger middle class and the discovery of new natural resources has helped to create a great economic interest in Africa by both Western and non-Western states that have sought to engage African governments so as to further their own interests in economic diplomacy. In order to enhance the articulation of their economic interests, African states need to overcome key trade and investment barriers that still exist
South Africa's foreign policy decisions and behaviours are routinely referred to as "schizophrenic" by scholars and political commentators alike. A malady of the human brain, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines "schizophrenia" as "a severe mental disorder, characterized by profound disruptions in thinking, affecting language, perception, and the sense of self [that] can impair functioning through the loss of an acquired capability to earn a livelihood, or the disruption of studies". If schizophrenia is a disorder of the human mind, then diagnosing a state with this disorder implies an acceptance of the argument that, indeed, "states are people too". Yet, for all of the diagnoses of foreign policy schizophrenia handed to the South African state on such a regular basis, very few scholars have seriously contemplated the implications of state personhood for our understanding of politics among nations, and the importance of this approach to International Relations (IR) for research on state behaviours. Pushing Alexander Wendt's (1999) claim that "states are people too" beyond its present conceptual limits, this research undertakes a personology of South Africa as state-person. "Personology" is, in its simplest form, a science of persons: how they exist in relation to others, how they differ from others, and how their experiences of the world affect their cognitions and behaviours. Persons are more than just identities. Persons have emotions, they maintain relationships with significant Others, and they experience internal conflicts that spark certain defensive behaviours. Behaviours, in turn, take on specific patterns in individuals based on historical experiences of the external world, and on the individual's internal configuration that predisposes it to certain courses of action that are again based in past experiences of the individual's interactions with Others. In this sense, the project distinguishes between "identity" and "personality" as two interrelated, but distinct, components of personhood. While constructivist IR to date has contributed significantly to our understanding of state identities, considerations surrounding personality remain unexplored. In the context of the above, the thesis asks the question "how do South Africa's experiences of relationships with other state-persons shape its behaviour in international politics, and why do these behaviours take on these unique dynamics?" Departing from a reexamination of the South African state's identity as both difference from and likeness to Others, the thesis incorporates insights from personality theory and psychoanalysis to propose a workable model for analysing state behaviours. Through an examination of significant events from South Africa's recent foreign relations, the thesis considers both defensive mechanisms employed by the state to protect its Self when faced with criticism from peers, and the reasons why these specific defences are employed in the way that they are employed. An understanding of the functions of narcissistic defences in individuals allows us to make sense of seemingly inconsistent, self-contradictory or incoherent behaviours beyond unexplored accusations of a disordered mind. Persons communicate their Selves, and their experiences of the world, through carefully selected symbols – both linguistic and non-linguistic. The study of these symbols, or semiotics, has long been the purview of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), which takes both linguistic and non-linguistic forms of communication as the foundations of social practice. Drawing heavily on the work of, among others, Foucault, Derrida and Lacan, CDA concerns itself with the social and political context of agency and structure, observable through the lenses of representation, manipulation, interpretation, that is embedded in the discourses of individuals or groups within societies. Discourse is produced with the aim of achieving something; this may simply include positioning the Self within society, communicating with Others to achieve the common aims of the group, or eventually, to change the external world in a way that corresponds to the individual's inner image of its Self in relation to outside world. Informed by this understanding of discourse as the performance of the Self, and the means through which to satisfy internal desires, the project looks at ways in which the South African Self is narratively constructed and performed in relation to significant Others, and how South Africa attempts to shape the external world according to its own mentalistic images of itself-in-theworld.
Over the past thirty years of its existence, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has attempted sub-regional integration in West Africa to promote economic cooperation and development among member states. In this light, she has expanded its vision and redefined its mandate as well as roles in addressing novel realities, especially in conflict resolution. However, there are still challenges yet to be surmounted. This article examines the fundamentals of the overall performance and challenges of regional integration in West Africa. It adopts both descriptive and analytical methods that are native to historical research enterprise. It argues that the feat achieved through ECOWAS/ECOMOG in Liberia and Sierra Leone adds credibility to the conception of regional integration as a dialectical unity of cooperation processes. The study concludes that collective self-reliance, intensification of inter-regional trade, and commitment to democracy are the best approaches to regional integration in West Africa.
Policy reform debates in African economies often focus on poverty alleviation programs, liberalisation of trade and market and social service provisions. These reforms are heavily dependent on funding from either foreign sources or natural resource wealth, accompanied with concessions from the East and conditionality laden Western sources. They rarely optimally explore the internal fiscal revenue sources of their economy and as such undermines the fiscal prowess of their economies. Despite the less desirable situation, most resource-dependent African economies have found themselves, the elite political class in these countries still engage in wasteful expenditure pattern. The question of demand for accountability and good governance is rather ambiguous to the majority of the electorate as there is often a weakfiscal contract between them and the elite political class. The acknowledgement of this gives politicians an \"incentive\" to perpetuate corrupt activities which enrich the elite class at the expense and well-being of the masses and widens the inequality gap. This scenario is rather worse off in natural resource-endowed developing economies. The elite classis faced with a game-like situation, where the payoffs can either be beneficial to the elite class at the expense of the electorate or beneficial to the electorate at the expense of the elite class.This study expands the discussion on how an effective fiscal regime can help improve accountability and welfare of citizens in natural resource-endowed African states.
Sustainable forest management (SFM) has become a major focus for the international community. This is because of the multifunctional importance of forest resources for the entire planet, namely ecological, socio-economic, cultural and climatic balance. General awareness of forest importance unfortunately coincides with the observed increase in threats, especially anthropogenic, to this world heritage. To tackle the continuing deforestation and degradation, the international community, through the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and its predecessors, has attempted to adopt an international convention on SFM based on the 15 Rio Declaration principles. The limited success of international negotiations aimed at the adoption of such an instrument leads us to seek an alternative within international law theories, through analysis of the relationship between states practice in SFM and customary international law. To this end, this paper focuses on the practice of Central African States in sustainable forest management, especially statement of principles, sub-regional treaty and domestic legislation. The analysis shows that their practice fulfils all the requirements in order to be regarded as regional custom. Therefore, principles and state practices of SFM can thus be considered legally binding for this sub-region, despite some major implementation shortcomings
A healthy and credible legislature is indispensable for representative liberal democratic governance. While representation involves informing and listening to those represented and making decisions and exercising influence on their behalf, legislative institutions of many African countries lack the effectiveness to inform and interact with their constituents, thus resulting to serious citizens-representatives disengagement. This pervasive contemporary estrangement is manifested in public cynicism towards political institutions and a collapse in once-strong loyalties and attachment between citizens and government. This research paper draws from case analysis and literature search to examine the potentials and challenges of e-parliament for re-engaging the electorate in the democratic states of Africa. Findings reveal that by leveraging on the exponential growth of ICTs particularly, in the continent, e-parliament provides new strategies for increasing and strengthening deliberative and interactive dialogue between citizens and their representatives. With e-parliament, citizens-representatives estrangement is reduced and new forms of engagement and collaboration created thus making democratic processes more inclusive and transparent. In this process the crisis of democratic legitimacy and accountability is averted for the African states. Though the realization of the full potential of e-parliament in Africa is greatly hampered by such challenges as inadequate infrastructural facilities and capacity building, this paper argues that with effective ICT strategic planning and management so as to judiciously utilize available resources and a mechanism for ICT skill training and development for all stakeholders, e-parliament presents a glimmer of hope for responsive and accountable governance in Africa.
Africa continues to witness sustained conflicts owing to a number of different reasons. Already, evidence shows that a majority of these conflicts have been driven by long-standing social- political and economic reasons. Yet a closer look at the conflicts reveals that they have not only transformed, but are now sustained by different actors, methods, and have different objectives. Traditionally, conflicts in Africa have been driven by issues such as natural resources and struggles for political and economic power. However, there are now new factors that are significantly fueling and sustaining violence and conflicts in many parts of Africa. The paper focuses on why there have been such sustained conflicts in Africa and largely categorizes them into two main classes- old and new. Kadlor's New War Theory helps explain and distinguish these two categories of conflicts by pointing out the salient features in each. However, what cannot be categorized is the effects that these conflicts have previously had and continue to leave in the countries and populations in which they occur. These are also briefly discussed which highlights the implications - both short-term and long-term that these conflicts have in Africa. Through these discussions, perhaps a new way of conceptualization of the nature of conflicts in Africa can be developed. This guides the approaches and means to be used in their mitigation and ultimate resolution.
The paper examines the various challenges that confront tertiary education institutions and economic development in Africa. It discusses the link between human capital development and tertiary education institutions and its impact on economic development in Africa. The paper argues that human capital development through tertiary education institutions is indispensable among African states for accelerated development in terms of poverty reduction, high productivity, life expectancy and increased literacy rate among others. The paper notes that the development of tertiary education institutions in Africa has been neglected by African states because of its capital intensiveness. The World Bank and other International Organizations that assist Africa in the development of education encouraged this neglect by laying emphasis on the development of primary and secondary education. The paper argues that the challenges of tertiary education institutions vis-à-vis economic development in African include the dependency type of relationship between African states and their former colonial masters and/or industrial countries, inadequate financing, lack of university autonomy, poor management of resources resulting from weak leadership, faculty shortage, among others. Finally, the paper recommends, among others that adequate funding of tertiary education institutions in Africa is sine qua non if African states have to pull itself out from under development.
