Democracy and Development in Africa

"Africa's future is up to the Africans ...","... what Africa needs is not strong men but strong institutions" (the words of President Barack Obama of the United States of America in a speech at Ghana,2009). Africa can not develop without good governance.This is the plain truth.The Dark continent has been bedeviled by corrupt,oppressive rule since its liberation (?) from colonial rule.One oppressive system merely replaced another as neo colonialism ensured that most African states have strong economic and political links with their former colonial masters.Many African states lapsed into civil war,others were constantly under military misrule allegedly with foreign support.Democratic structures which existed in pre colonial times were dismantled and no effort was made to revive them upon Independence.

The way forward would be the imitation of the success story of the Industrial revolution witnessed in 15th and 16th century Europe and America:Entrepreneurs, independent of Government, developed the economic system and the political system,fearing irrelevance,provided the necessary infrastructure and the rest is history.Developing the economic system will automatically develop the political system.If poverty is reduced,the struggle for scarce resources becomes less of a zero sum game and politics would be for the purpose of serving the people instead of serving selfish interests.

The industrial revolution in Europe, Germany, France, Russia, 1815-1914

Electronic Governance would reduce the cost of governance and enable government to reach more people, thereby acquiring more legitimacy.This will ensure stability which attracts local and foreign investments which in turn ensure more socio economic and political stability.Electronic voting will eliminate electoral fraud and ensure that the will of the people prevail.The mass media also have a role to play in the development of democratic values:the African media are pessimistic about the chances of progress in democratic lines because of decades of decay and the unwritten rule of Journalists: "bad news is good news".



Hopefully,the mass media will rise to the challenge of liberating Africa from the negative stereotype : the dark continent.