Africa’s Continuing Crises: The Elusiveness of Development

Behind the market stage where real societies exist ‐ part II: The role of moral norms

“…These factions are often engaged in merciless struggles for access to power and to the wealth and material privileges which automatically reward the powerholders [Sklar, 1979;Hyden, 1983;Young, 1986;Staniland, 1986;Bienen, 1987;Bayart, 1986;Kennedy, 1988]. If African states appear to be strong, it is because their rulers often follow authoritarian modes of conduct to exercise control in a fluid political setup dominated by ethnic and interdistrict competition, factional struggles, personal rivalries, and complicated relations of affection and patronage that cannot be encompassed by class analysis [Hyden, 1986: 66;Ravenhill, 1986;Bienen, 1987:298-300;Kennedy, 1988: 76;Bayart, 1989:257-315;Herbst, 1990]. This apparent strength nevertheless conceals their structural fragility and lack of autonomy arising from their being 'generally uninsulated from the particularistic loyalties and 'role diffuseness' which prevail in African societies, perhaps precisely to the extent that they have not developed as civil societies' [Booth, 1987: 27].…”

The Changing Role of Higher Education in Africa: A Historical Reflection

“…African economic condition started to crumble when the continent could not managed to penetrate into the global market with weak bargaining power in international trade (Ravenhill, 1986). In 1970s agricultural output in 39 African countries declined from 2.3 to 1.3 percent on average.…”

“…This led to inadequate facilities and infrastructures, problems of quality and relevance, limited capacity of teaching and research, critical shortage of faculty, and huge brain drain. To alleviate the economic crisis and financial constraints of the time, African governments heavily relied more and more on borrowing money from the international financial institutions to keep their public sector operational which led to the escalation of a huge debt crisis in the 1980s (Ravenhill, 1986). Africa became one of the most indebted continents in the world in 1980s.…”