Post Independence Development In Africa

The book Post-Independence Development in Africa: Decolonisation and Transformation Prospects revisits the development debates and development realities in Africa. This is achieved by offering theoretical comments about post-independence development in Africa and by providing historical details pertaining to the development approaches adopted in Africa immediately after independence in the 1960s and mid-70s. Sitting at the intersection of two sets of scholarly literature, namely; literature on development and literature on development discourses and practices in Africa, the book comprises a mixture of detailed sector-specific accounts of the status of development on the continent. The chapters in the book also contribute to clarifying how the two strands of literature intersect using several case studies across Africa.

Authors Christensen and Laitin argue that an interplay of geographic, historical, and demographic factors undergird sub-Saharan states' post-independence struggles to eradicate poverty, establish democratic accountability, and quell civil unrest. They set out the founding fathers' challenges in transforming their postcolonial states, many of which are ethnically diverse, geographically diffuse, sparsely populated, and lacking in administrative capacity. With the legacies of the slave trade, partition, Christian missionaries, and extractive colonial institutions complicating their efforts, many African states faced stagnation, authoritarianism, and civil strife. Recent years have seen promising attempts to restore democracy to states under authoritarian rule and to liberalize their economies, suggesting that the region is moving toward a new era. Relying on the best statistical data and richly illustrated with case material, this book is an indispensable source for scholars and policy analysts seeking to understand Africa's post-independence political trajectories.

This work focuses on the early years of independence and the problems African countries faced soon after the end of colonial rule. Many of those problems still exist today. They include poverty and underdevelopment; adoption of alien ideologies and economic and political systems; structural flaws of the modern African state and its institutions inherited at independence; nation-building, democratization, national integration, and ethnoregional rivalries among others. It is also a historical study of the continent since the partition of Africa by the imperial powers and of the struggle for independence. It also focuses on the continent's demographic composition, shedding some light on the complexity and diversity of the world's second largest continent. The history of Africa's indigenous peoples and their earliest contact with foreigners provides a background to this telescopic survey. The sixties was one of the most important decades in the history of Africa and this work provides a balanced perspective on those years when Africans celebrated the end of colonial rule on their continent. It is a compact study covering a vast expanse of territory from the advent of imperial rule to the attainment of sovereign status for African countries during the sixties and the problems they faced in those years. As a demographic portrait, it excels in depicting the continent as a tapestry that reflects the racial diversity and multiethnic composition of this vast land mass, the second largest after Asia. And as a historical and political analysis, it addresses some of the most important issues in the post-colonial era including the Cold War, with the Congo figuring prominently in the analysis as thefirst theatre of combat and super-power rivalry in the early sixties on the African continent. The dawn of freedom provided opportunities and challenges for the young African nations as they tried to modernize and consolidate their independence in a world dominated by major powers and contending ideologies. It was a rude awakening to the harsh realities of nationhood. One of these was the desire by the major powers to turn African countries into client states as the two ideological camps, East and West, competed for world domination. As Julius Nyerere warned, "We are not going to allow our friends to choose our enemies for us." One of the most contentious grounds for this hegemonic control was, of course, the Congo, right in the middle of the continent. It became the bleeding heart of Africa as the country was turned into a combat theatre mainly between the surrogate forces of the West and the Congolese nationalist forces supported by a number of African countries and by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The Congo imbroglio since the turbulent sixties mainly as a result of foreign intrigue and intervention is one of the most important subjects addressed in this book. And it raises serious questions that have profound implications even today for a continent mired in conflict; this time ignited by the Africans themselves in many - but not in all - cases. Yet, prospects for the world's poorest and most embattled continent are not bleak if Africans seek their own solutions to their own problems in this post-Cold War era of globalization dominated by the industrialized nations. The book includes many photos from the early sixties, the dawn of a new era when Africancountries won independence, which Oginga Odinga described as "Not Yet Uhuru."

Newly revised and updated, this edition brings together, in a single volume, a series of public documents pertaining to Africa's development since independence. These are various resolutions, declarations, treaties, and plans of action, which represent key moments and turning points in recent history from across the African continent. In its entirety, the collection of documents reflects how development ideas and processes have evolved from the early sixties to the present day. Some of the documents included are: the Charter of the OAU; the Monrovia Declaration of Commitment of the OAU Heads of State and Government; the Lagos Plan of Action; the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Banjul charter); the UN Declaration on the Critical Economic Situation in Africa; the African Common Position on Africa's External Debt Crisis; the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community; the Cairo Plan of Action; The Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Co- operation in Africa; and The New Partnership for Africa's Development. The volume also includes an introduction on the wider context of the documents by Eddie Maloka, the director of the Africa Institute of South Africa; and a critical essay on Africa's development thinking by an economic and foreign policy analyst.

Addressing the changing problems and perspectives of Africa, leading Africanists examine economic, political, and ideological trends in the sub-Saharan region since the time of independence, and assess their probable impact on the future of the subcontinent. Contributors deal with such essential topics as the influence of ideology on the evolution of African politics; the role of the military in African politics; the decline in food production and economic crises as a direct threat to the continent's independence; the problem of South Africa and the U.S. position with regard to South Africa; and the failure of the African collective security system.

Drawing on primary, secondary, and contemporary sources to analyze the role of the public service in the process of nation building in post-colonial Africa, this book addresses the problem of human resources administration in the continent, using the Cameroonian public service as a classic case study.

The last African colony to achieve independence, Namibia represents a watershed in the African political experience but faces formidable challenges. This book surveys contemporary trends in Namibia's political, social and economic development, examines its place in the international economic system, and analyzes the intricacies of its relations with South Africa.