Authoritarian Regimes in Africa: Impact on Development
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Authoritarian regimes, Africa, natural resources, development, China, Russia, neocolonialism, dictatorships, economic development, social development
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Abstract
This document examines the relationship between authoritarian regimes and development in Africa, highlighting the role of natural resources and external influences.
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[...] From the End of the Cold War to Multipolar Geopolitics: The Return of Authoritarianism in Africa Chapter 2. Development on the African Continent: Between Abundance and Troubles A. A Rich Continent with Limited Capacities B. Development Aid: Between Interference and Neocolonialism Chapter 3. The Interdependence between Dictatorial Regime and Development A. The Predation of Resources as a Weapon to Maintain and Exercise Power B. [...]
[...] Thus, the putschists have apparently become carriers of hope for a frustrated population, frustrated by the lack of economic and social development and increasingly urban in the entire Sahel region2 (Aikins, 2022). To better understand this situation, we need to go back in time. Until the end of the 1980s, authoritarian regimes were the rule in Africa, liberal democracies being the main exception. Military regimes, despotic autocrats like Idi Amin Dada in Uganda3, alongside united parties, have determined the country's public image, particularly abroad and in the West. [...]
[...] According to WTO figures cited by Demba Moussa Dembélé (2015), metals and other minerals, crude oil and natural gas, as well as many unprocessed or poorly processed agricultural products, account for approximately two-thirds of African exports5. In fact, the majority of African authoritarian regimes have significant natural resources (Niger, Gabon). It seems that these resource-rich states suffer from the 'resource curse' of authoritarianism. It is in this context that, for example, Jensen and Wantchekon (2004) were able to assert that 'excess' resources determine the type of political regime in Africa6. [...]
[...] Finally, as Henry Abangapkwa (2021) reminds us, ' the ills and pitfalls that the liberal democratic model has brought to Africa have forced leaders to retreat behind an authoritarian system to master tensions8. In this context, understanding the link between development and authoritarian regime requires (re)thinking the links between Western development aid, neocolonialism, and new political actors on the African continent. Suggestion of plan: Introduction (Context, object of study, problem, announcement of the plan) Chapter 1. The Authoritarian Regime in Africa A. Decolonization at the Origin of Dictatorial Regimes B. [...]
