Africa's Stalled Development: International Causes and Cures (review)

By any measure, Africa's development in the four decades of postindependence rule has been disappointing at best, abysmal at worst. Numerous studies have sought to identify the problems, some obvious and others not, and then suggest solutions, many too abstract or radical to be practical. Often, these studies rely on an array of questionable statistics and become mired in jargon and detail. They are generally stronger on identifying what has gone wrong with Africa's economic development and considerably weaker on remedies. They often rely on misunderstandings of the causes, as opposed to the symptoms, of the lack of progress. This excellent work by David Leonard and Scott Strauss avoids those pitfalls and presents a highly readable, provocative, and insightful analysis of the causes and the cures for the continent's pressing dilemmas. The authors argue that the lack of development, caused largely by Africa's relationship with the international system and the weak states it has fostered, can be solved only with international cooperation and profound structural change within the continent and in the international community's understanding and approach to African problems. Based on an extensive review of the literature and a series of original proposals, this book is essential reading for Africanists concerned with issues related to economic and political development.

In the first chapter, the authors examine the negative impacts of the personal-rule system and weak states, both fostered by colonial rule and, after independence, by the international system that rewarded those systems. Weak states have sustained personal rule. Elites gain access to the state through patronage. Foreign aid and enclave production, which benefits the elite and international economic interests and not the populace, contribute to the maintenance of personal rule. Neither indigenous elites nor international organizations have any incentive to change the current system. This chapter would have made a more convincing case if it had provided some specific case studies to strengthen the arguments, but the authors' points are well taken and explained.

Chapter two focuses on international debt and foreign aid. Leonard and Strauss call for an end to debt payments, as well as reduced and redirected aid. The burden of debt and the extreme dependence on aid have caused African elites to become externally oriented and distracted from domestic opportunities that might produce sustainable development. Increasing aid and increasing debt have meant, not increasing development, but the reinforcement of personal rule and weak states. Chapter three discusses a related problem: technical assistance and the preponderance of African countries' relying on foreign managers and technicians. The authors contend that considerably reduced technical assistance and reliance on expatriate workers would improve incentives for indigenous managers.

The next chapter, on the causes of civil conflict, is particularly strong and compelling. Contrary to popular opinion, ethnicity is not the primary cause of civil conflicts in Africa. Leaders in postindependence Africa, echoing their colonial predecessors, use ethnicity as a weapon to further their own agendas. The international community must change its thinking on this issue in order to end civil conflict, one of Africa's most pressing problems, and address development issues. The authors provide strong evidence directly linking enclave production, such as mining, oil drilling, timber extraction, and agricultural production on the estates of large corporations, with the creation and maintenance of civil conflict throughout the continent. The case studies in this chapter, which would have been useful in the other sections as well, are instructive and convincing. The analysis opens up avenues for more in-depth research in particular countries and regions of Africa.

The international community's response to civil conflict in Africa has been an infusion of humanitarian aid and intervention, the focus of Chapter five. Humanitarian intervention around the world has come under growing scrutiny and criticism in recent years, and this section is particularly timely and provocative. Because of its weak states, enclave production, and massive foreign aid, which is often predatory and reinforces weak...