Africa Economic Brief: Governance For Structural Transformation in Africa
Africa Economic Brief: Governance For Structural Transformation in Africa
Africa Economic Brief: Governance For Structural Transformation in Africa
I agree with Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Three decades ago, economic stagnation in Africa contri-
Development Bank, that “poor governance and lack of public buted to the imposition of the Washington Consensus of
accountability have always been among the main causes reduced state economic management and pervasive
hindering Africa’s structural transformation.” Governance and marketization. What Nicolas van de Walle of Cornell
misgovernance have been at the forefront of my reflections on University called “partial reform syndromes” resulted in
Africa, especially since I elaborated the concept of “preben- political economies that were semi-liberalized versions of
dalism” in 1978–1979 in response to the debilitating political former patrimonial autocracies.4 The Singapore industrial
practices I witnessed in Nigeria.3 Four decades later, we still policy model, energetically implemented by a rising China,
wrestle with the contradiction between prebendalism, as a has altered the global calculus. In recent years, moreover,
mode of accessing revenues through capturing government as Western post-Cold War triumphalism ebbed, security
offices, and building institutional and developmental capacity. concerns have grown.
During this period of flux and uncertainty, bold policy initiatives The Great Recession of 2008–2009 forced many European
should emerge from Africa to confront these and other nations into a decade-long search to reverse declines in
persistent challenges. We need a new wave of policy analyses employment and social equity. During the past two years,
and prescriptions grounded in African realities. Brexit, the American presidential election, large emigration
waves from the Middle East and Northern Africa, and
After observing the funeral of the late President Quett Masire burgeoning nativist movements have undermined the
of Botswana in June 2017, a former student of mine, Profess- coherence and confidence of the Western bloc of nations.
1 Richard Joseph is a nonresident senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution; and John Evans Professor of International
History and Politics at Northwestern University.
2 Quote taken from the guest lecture at the inaugural conference of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy in Nigeria, “State, Governance, and
Democratic Development in Africa,” delivered by the author in February 2016.
3 Joseph 1987.
4 Van de Walle 2001.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the paper do not necessarily represent those of the Bank, its Board of Directors, or the countries
they represent.
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For Africa, there is no bright policy light shining from abroad. and other service organizations?” Over four decades, I am
With regard to the United States, it is difficult to say where aware of the widening gap in institutional efficiency between
such a torchlight exists. While several large and mid-level countries with optimizing cultures and those in which they
powers compete for influence in Africa, none is currently able steadily diminish. The issue is perhaps more nuanced because
to impose its political and economic preferences. Apart from of the variance in such cultures and social structures within
securing access to natural resources and pursuing trade and countries.
investment opportunities, their efforts usually aim at protecting
religious affiliates, strengthening transborder security Knowledge bases, inside and outside Africa, can be tapped in
operations, stemming illicit emigration, and snuffing out search of answers to two fundamental questions: What has
nurseries of violent extremism. been learned about building sustainable institutional capacity
for development? And, how can this learning be transmitted
How, we must ask, can African countries advance politically and and become transformative in specific country contexts?
economically in this uncertain environment? Are there windows
of opportunity for African organizations, and their external
partners, to provide dynamic leadership, despite the head- and 3 | Enhancing electoral integrity
crosswinds. I therefore identify seven key opportunities and
challenges in the following sections. This cluster of The global crisis of democracy, to use Larry Diamond’s
commitments is embraced by the phrase “Life More Abundant,” words, requires responses pertinent to each world region. I
a mantra of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo of Nigeria. referred a few years ago to eddies rather than waves of
democratic advances and retreat.6 Today, with regard to
democratic governance, no specific institutional construct
1 | Reducing warfare can be forced on the continent. In fact, there is wide
institutional variance among established democracies, and
Too many of our people are dying in conflicts large and small. even between their central and subnational entities.7 Virtually
We must use known mechanisms, and devise new ones, to all countries today conduct regular elections but only a
reduce warfare. I first traveled to Sudan to join the University handful of these exercises are fairly and reliably conducted.
of Khartoum as a lecturer in 1974, during the pause in the It was a former official of the East Africa Commission who
north-south civil war following the Addis Ababa agreement. brought my attention to the negative economic
And I first came to Ethiopia in 1989 with former U.S. President consequences of violence and insecurity now unfortunately
Jimmy Carter on peacemaking missions. Many trips were associated with competitive elections.
made to Liberia in the early 1990s to try to end that grinding
and largely pointless war. The recent electoral disputes in Kenya reflect these dilemmas.
If a nation of the size and complexity of India can conduct fair
In too many parts of the continent today, lives and livelihoods and efficient elections with minimal violence, surely African
are cut short by war. What can be done? One suggestion is countries with 1 to 10 percent of its population can do likewise?
the need for new approaches to governing Africa’s conglo- We have to steadily increase the number of African countries
merate nations. Diverse peoples were thrown together within that emulate Ghana’s transition to conducting fully free, fair, and
imperial and colonial boundaries. Secession, as Eritrea and legitimate elections. Electoral integrity is fundamental to
South Sudan have demonstrated, is not a panacea. In many democratic construction in Africa.8
countries, there is a need to reconfigure political systems. In
my current internet volume, The Nigerian Crucible: Politics
and Governance in a Conglomerate Nation,5 I am drawing 4 | Scaling back corruption
insights from 40 years of study and reflection on the governing
of one of Africa’s most diverse nations. These insights can be Paralleling the crisis of democracy is the crisis of corruption.
applied to other plural nations in Africa. The Panama and Paradise Papers provide extensive
information about what has long been known in policy and
2 | Promoting institutional efficiency scholarly circles. The balance has tipped with the use of
offshore havens, and other wealth-concealing practices, to
In my Ibadan lecture of February 2016, I posed the question, deprive nations of the resources needed to generate jobs and
“Why can Nigerians build and operate mega-churches but not improve livelihoods. This observation applies also to business
quality public transport, public universities, public energy utilities corporations and affluent individuals in Western countries.9
5 https://arch.library.northwestern.edu/collections/rb68xb902?utf8=%E2%9C%93&sort=system_create_dtsi+asc&per_page=20.
6 Joseph 2011. On the crisis of democracy see Diamond (2008; 2014).
7 Behrend and Whitehead 2016.
8 On the achievements of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of Prof. Attahiru Jega between 2010 and 2015, see
https://arch.library.northwestern.edu/downloads/2v23vt41x?lolimpsecale=en.
9 Revelations of the lattice of bank accounts and dummy corporations used by Paul Manafort of the United States, former agent for many governments, have
provided a glimpse into these practices.
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Innovative mechanisms should be designed to rechannel illicit exceed income, and outmigration becomes a viable option,
capital flows to meet the daunting challenges in the despite the appalling risks.
continent.10 There are increased efforts under way to track
these flows, and the properties and shell companies in which Digital payment systems, and digital cash, make it
they are lodged. Their recapturing and reinvestment in Africa increasingly possible to provide income subsidies directly to
could greatly increase the stock of development finance. The families. Along with overcoming operational hurdles that have
work being done by intrepid organizations can be multiplied undermined public services in health, water, lodging,
exponentially to stem the outflow of public revenues and transport, and education, a key intellectual hurdle must be
return those abroad. overcome in Africa and elsewhere: the recognition that a
larger proportion of national revenues, from a variety of
sources, should flow directly to the citizens of African and
5 | Protecting the environment other countries.12 There is increasing awareness, for example,
of the important benefits to families and communities in Africa
Two significant windows of opportunity for African innovation and other regions of remittances from the diaspora. Basic
concern climate change and renewable energy. It is well income strategies through informal networks are therefore not
known how vulnerable African countries are to climate new, but can constitute a larger part of the global aid system.
change, desertification, ocean warming, and rising sea
levels.11 We are also aware of the dire consequences in the
form of shrinking livelihoods, the exacerbation of group 7 | Widening access to knowledge
conflict, and catastrophic disasters of hurricanes, floods, and
forest fires. Much of what we learn can be transmitted to others, but how
widely? I have sought to transmit much that I have learned,
Solar power, hydropower, and natural gas are clean energy especially about Africa, over a half-century.
sources abundantly available, and under-exploited, in Africa.
The transformative potential of these resources can alter the Too much knowledge generated about Africa, however, even
energy profile of the continent, accelerate electrification, and by African scholars and writers, is not easily accessible. In
reverse environmental degradation. During this period when view of the explosion of fake news and reports, we have to
climate change and renewable energy are treated as political make verifiable studies and documentation widely available.
footballs in global conferences, Africa with its vast land mass, I therefore salute the important Open Access repository,
powerful rivers, extensive shore lines, abundant natural gas, Arch Library, created at Northwestern University. Gaps in
and copious other minerals should boost its voice and quality education and instruction can also be filled by online
achievements in this critical domain. learning. For anyone who moves between Africa and the
developed, and the fast-developing, world it is disconcerting
how wide the gaps are between access to books and
6 | Guaranteeing basic incomes scholarly articles.
There was a time when labor in many societies was tied to I conclude by mentioning what, together with my colleagues
satisfying basic needs, whether through hunting, gathering, and students, is being done and the opportunities they
fishing, or cultivating. We are in a period of rapid transition represent for partnering with African’s thought leaders. The
due to globalization and automation. A gap is growing time has come to consider establishing a transnational Center
between labor demands and the acquisition of income to for the Study of Governance and Development. It can begin
meet fundamental needs. Many working families cannot with a Governance & Development Learning Network.13 While
satisfy such needs and spiral into unsustainable debt. the primary focus will be Africa, these entities can draw on
Population growth in many African countries continues to the experiences of other regions.
10 Alexandra Gillies of the Natural Resource Governance Institute of the Open Society Foundation is writing a book on the misuse of revenues from extractive
industries. It will add significantly to our understanding of these processes.
11 In this regard, see the remarkable video on environmental decay in Nigeria, “Nowhere to Run,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zuRMxaCrvQ.
12 See Diamond and Mosbacher 2013.
13 A Governance & Development Study Group will begin at Northwestern in January 2018. Its deliberations will center on the political configurations of particular
African countries, examining how they arrived at their current impasse and what paths forward can be envisaged. The first three countries to be examined will
be Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Cameroon. The Study Group will build on a Forum Series on Democracy and Insecurity in Africa conducted in Evanston and
Chicago, IL, in spring 2017. An archival project followed on Peace and Security Initiatives, 1987–1997, in summer 2017, focusing on Carter Center engagements
in a half-dozen African countries.
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References
Behrend, J. and L. Whitehead (2016). “The Struggle for Subnational Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 27 (2): 155–169.
Diamond, L. (2008). “The Democratic Rollback: The Resurgence of the Predatory State.” Foreign Affairs 87 (2): 36–48.
——— (2014). “Promoting Democracy: Enduring Tensions and New Opportunities.” In In Search of Democracy. New York:
Routledge.
Diamond, L., and J. Mosbacher (2013). “Petroleum to the People.” Foreign Affairs 92 (5): 86–98.
Joseph, R. (1977). Radical Nationalism in Cameroun: Social Origins of the UPC Rebellion. Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press.
——— (1978). Gaullist Africa: Cameroon under Ahmadu Ahidjo. Enugu, Nigeria: Fourth Dimension Publishers.
——— (1986). Le mouvement nationaliste au Cameroun: Les origines sociales de l’UPC. Paris: Karthala.
——— (1987). Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
——— (2011). “Democracy and Reconfigured Power in Africa.” Current History 110 (739): 324–330.
van de Walle, N. ( 2001). African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979–1999. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge
University Press.