Editorial
Part III: Why Africa Does Not Develop
There’s a Ghanaian proverb that says: ‘You do not become a chief simply by sitting on a big stool.’ Interpretively, one does not get to be president without having ambition, drive, support, secrets, compromises and everything else that comes with holding political office. A great many African leaders get into power through both de jure and de facto ways. However, like the Economist says, although sad tales like the March Madness in Mali dominate the news from Africa, the truth is that the continent’s political norms have evolved more towards politicians in suits than mutineers in battle fatigues. Unfortunately, these politicians in suits bring their own brand of African grief – and this was at the core of the new book ‘Why Nations Fail’ by Messrs Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson.
Like the New York Times notes about the book, nations thrive when they develop inclusive political and economic institutions, and fail when these very institutions become extractive and concentrate power and opportunity in the hands of only a few. Yes. This is not an instance of not having institutions or finding donors to establish these things at every level. No. Every African country has institutions and has, in fact, had them for eons. The tribal chiefdoms and kingdoms were and are institutions. Many, like the Buganda Kingdom in Uganda thrived because they bore the perfect blend of inclusion and exclusion. Today, like The Economist article cited above mentions, there are democratic institutions everywhere in Africa, for instance. In fact, only one country, Eritrea, amongst more than 50 countries does not hold elections. Therefore, like the NYT seminally extracts, the heart of the matter beats around this: You can’t get your economics right if you don’t get your politics right.
Under the circumstances, it might be easy to argue that a country like China has been able to garner the temerity to build a world class economy while riding on the back of an autocratic political system; and that African countries could learn and benefit from China’s brand of growth and prosperity. However, this paper disagrees. China is, probably, teetering towards an uncertain future simply because people cannot be fettered, deprived, cowed or coaxed into cooperation. Fareed Zakaria has much to say about what people really want and what they are able to live with. Singapore’s ‘benevolent dictator‘ as an example, did not involve the balance between the dangerous and unsustainable balance of extraction versus inclusion as played by China. Like the Guardian notes, African elites who are now looking to China for a model in modern development and economic prosperity are being completely misled because The Middle Kingdom is, first and foremost ‘… yet another instance of a society rushing into a cul-de-sac …’ It is, definitely, not on course for the level of prosperity found in the Western world. Again, the politics has to be fixed before the economics can be successful.
Call America what you may – but The Great Satan has managed to create as many institutions it possibly can. These, in the main vein of Why Nations Fail are what ensure the survival of the world’s richest and most powerful nation. There are institutions everywhere in America. The lobbyists littered all over Washington, DC consider their offices and causes worth fighting for. The women who believe abortion is their right create institutions worth dying for. The families against the public education system home school their children and create bodies to fight for their rights. Even the men who have sexual relations with boys [North American Man Boy Lovers Association – NAMBLA] have an institution they fund and protect. Under the circumstances, although the last example is, perhaps an example of institutions gone wild, there is precedence and protection under the U.S. constitution.
