Topic-
Political and economic challenges of nation building in Africa
Nation-building
is a long and challenging political process which requires constant and serious
efforts both at leadership level and at the level of Citizens. Most nations
have their unique circumstances and each one, throughout history, has built and
developed itself around certain distinguishing core features.
The
process of nation-building can only be internally generated and led. It cannot
be achieved from the outside though initiatives and lessons can be learnt from
outside world
too.
The
first of these processes has always been the conscious cultivation of a
national identity, the sense of belonging, based on shared values, tradition,
history and aspirations. The second is the establishment of institutions and
laws of governance which formalise the relationship between the leaders and
citizens, and their expectation of service delivery. The third feature is the
participation of citizens in the governance process by choosing a system that
serves them best, selecting their leaders and playing an active role in
decision making. Then there is economic transformation, it is only right for
the people to expect a qualitative improvement in their lives. Part of
nation-building, therefore, includes establishing the climate and mechanisms
for economic development for the whole nation.
Since the early 1990s, most of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48
countries have undergone major political and social changes. People across the
continent were engaging in classic expressions of opposition to
authoritarianism such as popular uprisings and civil disobedience, as well as
exploring new forms in the collective quest for liberty.
Single-party
regimes found themselves forced to permit multiparty competition, constitutions
and election laws were redesigned, and competitive elections of one sort or
another went forward. Yet years after
these historic events, the net results of the “third wave” of democratization
in Africa remain unclear.
Most close
observers agree that some countries have performed quite well. Besides Botswana
and Mauritius, which have been continuously democratic since independence in
the 1960s, Benin, Eritrea, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and even
Mali seem to be following a “progressive” path to democratic transition. Still,
many caveats remain. Promises to give power to the people, to make new
political and social institutions more effective, and to organize more balanced
and stable systems of government have mostly been slow to be fulfilled.
For
a country coming out of conflict, the first priority should be one of
stabilisation and security, which requires strong internal political
leadership, systems and institutions. In essence, this is a precondition for
successful nation-building. There is need for restoration of order, peace and
stability for the building to happen. The nations in continent are plagued with multiple
issues leading to instability and unrest. As a result of leadership woes,
abject poverty, corruption, civil wars, etc, Africa is being describe as the
‘dark continent’. Some of the political and Economic challenges which lie ahead
of Africa can be discussed as-
The Political Challenges
1.
Leadership Crisis
In the Central African Republic, Congo and Niger,
democratically elected presidents have failed to meet the challenges of
tolerance and creativity that are the hallmarks of true leadership, and have
faced civil strife or military coups. Africa has seen its freedom heroes
turn into dictators, while plunder of natural resources, politics of exclusion
and deprivation to tilt the balance of power continues to dominate the public
sphere. It can therefore be argued that from the very start, leadership problem
crept into the new states, as the new African leadership became the
neocolonialists, while the liberators turned into oppressors of their own
people.
Contemporary African leaders are characterized with
military and dictatorial rule, undemocratic and massive bureaucratic
corruption. These challenges are real and serious and thus should be a concern
for policy makers
2.
Authoritarianism
In Benin and
Madagascar, old authoritarian rulers have returned to power through the ballot
box, carried by rising discontent at the painful economic “shock therapy” implemented
by the first freely elected governments and aided by the new leaders’ poor
political skills. In Cameroon, Kenya, and Togo, former authoritarian rulers
have been able to retain power by circumventing the new rules of the game and
keeping a grip on military power and the public.
Corruption epidemic in African countries owes its
existence to the long term tenure of their dictators. Examples of past
dictators with long tenure include Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie (44
years), Gabon’s Omar Odimba Bongo (42 years), Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi (42
years), Togo’s Gnassingbé Eyadéma (37 years), and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak (31
years).
The crisis of leadership has bedeviled Africa to
unclear ideology, frequent changes of government, and civil wars.
3.
Non-Democratization
In Nigeria and
Sudan, the so-called democratization process has run into so much trouble that
it is almost impossible to define the path that these countries are now
following. Indeed, these numerous setbacks—joined by the protracted decline and
fall of the Successful regimes in Zaire—have reinforced the belief that it is
hard, if not impossible, to persuade Africa’s authoritarian leaders to accept
democratic rules.
4.
Weak political Parties
In theory, political parties constitute the mechanism
par excellence of democratic transition. According to political scientists, a
modern party must meet four criteria. These are continuity (that is, a life
span exceeding the dominance of the party’s founders), a nationwide
organization, the desire to exercise power, and consistent efforts to garner
significant popular support. Many
African political organizations do not even meet the first criterion.
Quite often, a political party south of the Sahara is
little more than a platform for a single individual, a structure whose rules
can readily be changed to suit its founder, whose charisma and money are its
main engines. As the vehicle of its leader, the party’s life expectancy and
prospects are tied to its founder’s fate. Its program will often be limited in
scope, and may not show much philosophical consistency. African parties also
often fall short of the mark on the second count. Not many of the continent’s
countries have political organizations with broad national bases. Very often,
parties are tied to the home regions of their leaders.
Many Africans, especially those tired of military
dictatorships and faltering economies, and politicians out of power and in
exile, applaud these prescriptions. Nevertheless, they wisely or cynically
refrain from defining the criteria for their own political culture. The result
is that both
5.
International interests
International influences, includes foreign policies
and the diffusion effect which oftentimes adversely impact upon stability of
African countries.
Geo-political and economic interests of the
international community constantly play a significant role in undermining the
very processes and institutions that are expected to nurture democracy and to
instill a sense of stability for societal development in Africa. This threat is
however not emanating from within the continent but from external interests
whose thirst for African resources, continue to shape the dynamics in areas
related to governance
6.
Lack of efficient State Institutions
Also problematic in the African context are the
existing institutions of the state and how they function. Despite the existence
of institutional frameworks that are supposed to guide processes and delivery
on essential services, the continued weakening of these institutions, through
political mechanisation and predatory nature of African elites, working in
cohorts with external interests also contributes further to the undermining of
stability in Africa. These tendencies exacerbate resources wars, ethnic
rivalry, and more recently, the emergence of electoral violence as a
characteristic of multi-party era elections in African.
Another predicament of the continent of Africa is poor
institutional structures which is often blame on bureaucracy. The principle of
checks and balance remains an abstract idea which left leaders to treat their
nations as their own property. This has further weakened bureaucratic
institutions for proper accountability and hence massive corruption at top
level.
Bureaucratic and political accountability can only be
effective in a democratic state. Institutions such as judiciary, court and
other watchdog bodies need to be free from political control of the executive.
Corruption is eating the fabric of African society and has degraded the
continent to poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment.
7.
Political Instability
Political instability in Africa may owe much of its
cause to internal factors, however the interpenetration of internal and
external factors especially geo-political and economic interests of the international
community constantly play a significant role in undermining the very processes
and institutions that are expected to nurture democracy and to instill a sense
of stability for societal development in Africa. This threat is however not
emanating from within the continent but from external interests whose thirst
for African resources, continue to shape the dynamics in areas related to
governance.
The constitutional frameworks and state institutions
have been tampered with, in order to create an uneven play field against the
opposition. Some of these processes have seen sporadic violence during
electioneering periods, leading to political instability.
8.
A colonial legacy
The post-colonial Governments “sought national unity
through the centralization of political and economic power, employing vestigial
colonial laws and institutions to stifle and suppress pluralism.
For
over sixty years of post-colonial rule, nation-building in most African
countries has been an up-hill task as a result of the disruption and
fragmentation of the societies caused by the former colonialists. There is no
doubt that colonialism created some conditions that made it difficult for newly
independent African countries to function as proper nation states and the
ramifications are still felt today.
9.
Presence of outdated constitutional provisions
The post-colonial Governments, sought national unity
through the centralization of political and economic power, employing vestigial
colonial laws and institutions to stifle and suppress pluralism. The
constitutions that were bequeathed to the newly independent states were the
products of protracted negotiations in western capitals, whose outcomes were in
most cases favourable to the departing colonial powers.
10.
Lack of free and fair elections
During the onset of multi-party democracy in the so
called third wave of democratisation, most regimes in Africa did not fully
embrace the changes that accompanied the transition. Many autocratic regimes,
for instance accepted multi-party democracy out of western donor pressure and
agitation for change by local civil society.
With many countries holding their third or fourth
multi-party elections, internal power struggles have taken a violent dimension,
thereby threatening the very existence of many countries. Since the onset of
multi-party democracy in most African countries electoral processes have been
accompanied by political violence, as part of the democratisation process.
Most violence
in such cases are often state sponsored, to the advantage of the incumbent,
while various groups that struggle for state power also deploy hired violence,
in the form of informal groups, militias and gangs.
11.
Power-sharing arrangement
The preservation of some countries affected by
violence has motivated the international community to act quickly to stop these
countries from sliding into an all out civil war the measures adopted,
especially the recent trend of prescribing a power-sharing arrangement between
a winning opposition candidate and an incumbent electoral thieving president as
was the case in Kenya and now in Zimbabwe, fails to address the fundamental
issues around political stability in Africa.
Even if power sharing as a formula is the most
expedient response in post-electoral violence situations, for instance, these
deals also fall short of addressing the very factors that underpinned the
post-election violence, namely, the decades of political and economic
marginalisation.
12.
Migration
The issue of political instability in Africa is also
directly related to the migration and development question. The life
threatening political and economic conditions in Africa contribute enormously
to the massive exodus of both highly qualified and lowly educated populations
in Africa. These include such factors as civil conflicts, bad governance and
poor economic conditions. Many people are on the move as asylum seekers or
refuges in a number of countries. They are escaping from civil wars, and
oppressive regimes working in cohort with external special interests,
especially in countries endowed with natural resources.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa has estimated
that between 1960 and 1975 an estimated 27,000 highly qualified Africans left
the continent for the West. According to the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM), there are 100,000 skilled Africans living and working in the EU
and North America. This number is
increasing every year and therefore impeding potential economic growth, and
remains a handicap for sustainable development in many countries in Africa.
13.
Violence and Genocide
A lack of equal distribution would be detrimental to
the democratization process as the struggle for scarce resources and hegemony
of one group would ensue. In the absence of such guarantees, people become
vulnerable and feel insecure in their immediate surroundings and with constant
power struggles, range from genocide to torture and other in humane treatment
by rogue regimes, large sections of African populations have become refugees
within the continent and abroad.
9 Active
armed conflicts in 2017 (in all of Africa) plus another 7 post-conflict and
potential conflict situations rose in. These events
point to extreme state fragility and a loss of sovereign control over violence
in the 11 affected countries, led by Nigeria, South Sudan, and the Central
African Republic (CAR). One-sided violence against unarmed civilians has also
spiked up since 2011.
The
collapse of Libya after 2011, spreading large quantities of arms and trained
fighters across the broader Sahel region, the proliferation of local IS or Al
Qaeda franchises in remote, under-governed spaces also causing the violence in
the regions. Not surprisingly, incumbent leaders facing these challenges look
to short-term military remedies and extend a welcome to military partners.
The link
between conflict and governance is a two-way street. Security challenges can
impose tough choices on governments that may act in ways that compound the
problem, opening the door to heightened risks of corruption and the slippery
slope of working with criminal entities. On the other hand, weak or destructive
governance is sometimes the source of conflicts in the first place. This can
happen in several ways.
A second conflict pattern can develop along the lines of ethnic
cleavages which can be readily politicized and then militarized into outright
ethnic violence. The challenge facing Africa’s leaders is how to govern under
conditions of ethnic diversity.
14.
The state-society
gap
Cold War
geopolitics reinforced in some ways the state-society gap as the global rivalry
tended to favor African incumbents and frequently assured they would receive
significant assistance from external powers seeking to build diplomatic ties
with the new states. This situation supported an external orientation in African
politics in which Cold War reference points and former colonial relationships
assured that African governments often developed only a limited sense of
connection to their own societies.
Africans
define themselves in terms of multiple identities including regional, tribal,
clan-based, and religious ones—in addition to being citizens of a relatively
new state.
The
state-society gap lies at the heart of the problems faced by many states.
Governments that rely on foreign counterparts and foreign investment in natural
resources for a major portion of their budgets—rather than on domestic
taxation—are likely to have weaker connections to citizens and domestic social
groups. This adds to the challenge of building national identities. This
‘identity vacuum’ increases the risk that political elites and social groups
will capture the state for narrower, self-interested purposes that weaken,
rather than strengthen, social cohesion.
15.
Ethnicity
When conflicts evolve along ethnic lines, they are readily labelled
‘ethnic conflict’ as if ‘caused’ by ancient hatreds. In reality, it is more
often caused by bad governance and by political entrepreneurs. Poor leadership
can result in acts of commission or omission that alienate or disenfranchise
geographically distinct communities.
Still another form of legitimacy in Africa sometimes derives from
traditional political systems based on some form of kingship. Long-standing
kingdoms such as those in Morocco and Swaziland are recognized national states.
The numerous problems which have been bedeviling
African states also includes ethnic and communal clashes, increasing crime
wave, drug trafficking, advanced fee fraud etc, have been blamed on ineffective
leadership. The Rwandan genocide, civil wars in Sierra Leone, Liberia etc, is a
clear testimony of the aforementioned claim.
16.
Lack of good
governance
Underlying the litany of Africa’s development problems
is a crisis of good governance. By governance is meant the exercise of
political power to manage a nation's affairs. In self-defense, individuals have
built up personal networks of influence rather than hold the all powerful state
accountable for its systemic failure. In this way, politics becomes
personalized and patronage becomes essential to maintain power. The leadership
assumes broad discretionary authority and loses its legitimacy, information is
controlled, and voluntary associations are co-opted or disbanded.
The World Bank, IMF, and other international
development donors view Africa’s inability to attain high level development
partly due to it records of bad governance. Good governance is a means to
achieve socio-economic development especially in Africa where there is high
influx of foreign aid with little result to show for it. The World Bank
indicators of good governance encompassing democracy, transparency and
accountability, it may be said that, the whole idea of good governance is that
of a participative system in which those who are called upon to govern on
behalf of the people are motivated with a will to giving their best, serving
and doing good to the people, solving their problems and making their lives
more liveable, satisfying and enjoyable.
The Economic Challenges
1.
Indirect International Interference
The existing economic conditions based on western
policy prescriptions also play a significant role in the deprivation of African
populations, of the essential services, which are keys to development. It is the
western based financial institutions whose interference through conditionality
and economic policy prescriptions, contribute to the instability in Africa.
International influences, which includes foreign
policies and the diffusion effect which oftentimes adversely impact upon
stability of African countries. For decades, western companies involved in
extraction in Africa have never declined in numbers nor have their profits
plummeted.
The African elites, who are bent on hanging to power
at all cost and for the purpose of primitive accumulation, have perfected the
art of political expediency even when these acts threaten the stability of
their countries. But in all these cases, there is always a hidden hand of
external interests, who would like to retain the status quo or where they
support political change, and then their choice of preference is always contradictory
to the wish to the people.
For instance while many countries took a tough stand
on Moi regime in 1980s and early 1990s, Britain did not take a strong stand
against Moi’s regime, due to their interests in Kenya. Britain had an
investment worth $1billion in Kenya. In this case the safety of their
investments and profits was enough justification to accept the Moi regime after
flawed elections in 1992 and 1997.
2.
High debt to GDP Ratio
Nearly 40% of
sub-Saharan African countries are at risk of slipping into a major debt crisis.
The region’s aggregate debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 46% in 2017, up from from 23%
in 2008. As debt levels increase, so does the pressure of servicing the debt;
money that could be invested in society goes to repaying loans.
The economic policies in the form of Structural
Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) packages entailed sweeping economic and social
changes designed to siphon the indebted country’s resources and productive
capacity into debt payments and to enhance international (TNCs) competition.
The consequence of these economic conditions in Africa
has obviously had serious ramifications for essential services such as health,
education and infrastructure. Cuts in public expenditure under SAPs led to a
drastic decline in control and prevention measures against diseases such as
cholera, yellow fever and malaria that were once under control while new
diseases remain a big challenge. The accumulative and exploitative tendencies along
with demographic and multifarious other pressures, greatly increased government
indebtedness and reinforced a spiral of decline in the delivery of public
services and of the economy.
3.
Western Policy
influence
The existing economic conditions based on western
policy prescriptions also play a significant role in the deprivation of African
populations, of the essential services, which are keys to development.
Privatisation of public enterprises and downsizing of
the civil services have engendered the spread of corruption as multinationals
supported by Western governments and their agencies continue to engage in
corruption on a vast scale in North and South alike.
Such bad governance practices and loopholes for
plunder of public funds, demands an extensive regulatory system of contract
rules and an effective legal supervision of their observation. As long as these
mechanism are being flouted in Africa, the markets even though touted as the
solution to economic development problems, has still shown its failures due to
misuse of power in relationships.
4.
Corruption
Transparency International (TI) estimates that
corruption in Africa siphons off 20 to 30 percent of funding from basic service
provision.
Political corruption is one the issues that African
governments are facing and it has retarded growth in many African nations.
Corruption is injustice and a threat to sustainable development. Political
corruption is any transaction between private
Political corruption has not only undermined
bureaucratic institutions in Africa but also administrative and economic
development. For example, since independence in 1960 to 2010, Nigeria has
reportedly lost $500 billion to corruption. Again, the ex-petroleum minister of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, between 2010 and 2015 Mrs. Alison-Madueke was
involved in a bribery and money laundering scandal. It was alleged that $20
billion of oil money had gone missing when she was in office.
The argument of
this paper is that, corruption is one of the causes of Africa’s
underdevelopment. There have been reports of substantial cases of embezzlement
of public funds and capital flight by some African president and politician
alike.
Political corruption does not only lead to
misallocation of resources, but it also affects the manner in which decisions
are made. Political corruption is the manipulation of the political
institutions and the rules of procedure, and therefore it influences the institutions
of government and the political system, and it frequently leads to
institutional decay as the ones in Africa. It also weakens the legitimacy of
accountability of many African governments.
5.
Unequal distribution of resources
The market outcome of the allocation of resources
especially in Africa is socially unacceptable. They cause massive deprivation
and inequalities, marginalisation and in some cases, trigger interethnic
conflicts, as various groups struggle for scarce state resources. Again, this
is more common in countries less endowed with natural resources while in those
cases with natural resources, regional conflagrations emerge as different parts
of the country compete or lay claim to such resources.
6.
Brain Drain
The hostile political environment have consequently
contributed to the exodus of many highly qualified persons, a further
contributing factors the problem of brain drain but also the exodus of their
next of kin, or general refugee migration as part of populations seeking safety
in foreign lands including Europe and North America.
However the degree of violence and the manner in which
they are perpetrated vary from country to country as the recent elections in
Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe can show.
The brutality with which African leaders impose their
authority on their people, continue to drive many people into exile. As a
result of the conflicts, bad governance and poor economic condition, large
numbers flee their countries, a factor that is currently shaping the migration
debate, especially in the western countries, but also in Africa with regards to
brain drain.
7.
Unemployment and underemployment
The
unemployment and underemployment are the most pressing concerns. Unemployment
in sub-Saharan Africa stands at around 6%, according to the International
Labour Organization. But most of the work available is unskilled or
low-skilled, in part because the region has the world’s lowest levels of access
to higher education.
So, although
many Africans are employed, 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s workforce is
vulnerable. The global average for vulnerable occupations is 46%.
8.
Political
change
"Failure
of national governance" is a leading risk to business, according to
executives in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the beginning of 2015, Africa has
experienced more than 27 leadership changes, Which highlights the
continent-wide push for greater accountability and democracy.
9.
Climate change
Nine out of
the ten countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change are in
sub-Saharan Africa. The region has at least 10 vulnerable coastal cities
with a population of more than 1 million people, including Accra, Dakar,
Durban and Lagos.
Africa is
expected to be one of the continents hardest hit by climate change, with
increasing extreme weather events threatening the health of its people and
economies. At the same time, mass-migration as a result of flooding or droughts
could put resources such as food, water and housing under pressure in areas
less affected.
10.
Lack of
efficient banking system
The
country, like many other African nations lacks a world-class infrastructure,
and it has a fragile banking sector.
11.
Heavy dependency on Natural resources
Africa is
largely dependent on natural resources to achieve growth and development. But
the absence of efficient Infrastructure and good policies makes it vulnerable
to depend heavily on them. However, the realization of these goals may be
hindered by the impact of climate change. Notwithstanding its low greenhouse
Gas (GHG) emissions, it is the continent that will be most affected by climate
change mainly due to low adaptive capacity.
Conclusion
Key to the process of stability and peace is
strengthening Africa’s institutions that promote democracy and accountability
with an input from the local perspectives. The potential also lies in the
heterogeneous nature of Diaspora and the important humanitarian function of
remittances, civic oriented activities, political involvement, advocacy and
lobbying.
Vibrant economic policies alongside with democratic
policies that are based on African norms and values could lead to
socio-economic development in Africa. There are too many state deficiencies in
Africa and therefore civil society needs to develop in order to fill the void
created by government. Civil society organization plays a vital role in
addressing Africa’s most pressing development challenges.
A term limit for all member states through dialogue,
and that no president should rule more than two terms. African governments need
to invest more into education especially in the fields of science and
technology. Studies have proven that democracy and e-Government are likely to
succeed in countries with high level of literacy. Above all, the development of
the educational system is the surest path to Africa’s development.
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