To what extent does the nature of African governments limit

development?Politics of Development in Africa

Issues

• You should familiarise yourself with the following areas and be able to analyse the effect they have on a country’s development– Political instability– Domestic policies– Poor governance– Kleptocracy and corruption

Political instability

• In recent history many African countries have experienced drastic political changes

• Most African colonies only became independent around 1960 and have struggled to achieve healthy democracy

• From 1954-2005 there were 186 military coups and 15 African presidents were assassinated

What is a military coup?

• A military coup, or coup d’etat, is when the military uses force to get rid of the government

• Often, the military go on to take control of the country, leading to a military regime

• Political Situation in the Central African Republic since Independence

– 1960-1962 Restricted Democratic Practice– 1962-1966 One Party State (MESAN)– 1966-1976 Military Regime & One Party State – 1976-1979 One Party State (MESAN)– 1979-1980 Transitional Period– 1980-1981 One Party State (UDC)– 1981         Restricted Democratic Practice– 1981-1987 Military Regime– 1987-1991 One Party State (RDC)– 1991-1993 Multiparty Transition– 1993-2003 Democracy– 2003-2005 Military Regime– 2005-        Democracy

Political instability hinders development

• Why?– Leaders focus on simply holding onto power– Overnight changes of government disrupt

services like health and education– Expensive projects which would lead to long

term development (e.g. roads, telecommunications, health, education) are neglected

However…

• Stable government is not always good for development– Robert Mugabe has

been president of Zimbabwe since 1980 but the country is experiencing major problems

Poor governance

• Features of bad governments:– ‘amateur’ politicians in place who got their jobs

through nepotism and/or military coups• 32 African countries experienced military rule during the 20th

century – soldiers are not trained politicians

– Police cannot be trusted– Elections are not free and fair– Taxes are not collected effectively– Government cannot be counted on to deliver key

services– Human rights are abused

Domestic policies

• Many African governments are poor at creating and implementing policies for development– Many spend more on military than on

essential services • E.g. Eritrea spend 19% of GDP on

military but only 4% on education and health)

– Tariffs and minimum prices which prevent them increasing their share of international trade

• Cotton trade has frozen in Malawi due to high minimum prices imposed by the government

Eritrea

Life Expectancy: 53.73 male, 58.71 female

Infant mortality: 44.34 deaths/1000 live births

Where is Eritrea?

Kleptocracy

• A kleptocracy is a system in which leaders use their power to benefit themselves – Stealing public funds and/or aid money,

accepting bribes or getting advantages in business

• Those who go along with the system get to share the rewards, while those who speak out suffer

How big is the problem?

• Late Nigerian Dictator Sani Abacha stole between $1 billion and $3 billion in the space of 5 years

• All this corruption diverts money away from aid projects and essential services

• Corruption in the Niger Delta

Addicted to aidA percentage of AID given to African countries is stolen by corrupt officials.The Ugandan Health Minister is suspected of stealing $1 million of AID money that was intended to fund development projects

Remember…• not all African governments

are inept and/or dishonest • The Mo Ibrahim Prize for

Achievement in African Leadership is awarded for excellent leadership– 2007 winner: Joaquim

Chissano (former president of Mozambique)

– 2008 winner: Festus Mogae, President of Botswana

– 2009/10 – no award– 2011 – Pedro Pires, President

of Cape Verde until 2011)

Chissano received the Mo Ibrahim Prize from UN

Secretary General Kofi Annan

Analysis: Despite its good leadership, Botswana is still a struggling country with an average life expectancy of 35 years and the second highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the world

Case study: good domestic policy Uganda: The Poverty Eradication Action Plan

• Aim: to reduce poverty• Features:

– modernisation of agriculture– expansion and diversification of exports– reducing corruption– improving electric power supplies

• Successes: 6% economic growth rate• Challenges: many Ugandans still feel that

they are becoming poorer

Also…

• Remember your economic factors that are out of the hands of African governments