OP-ED: Democracy in Africa — good or bad for economic development? By Leandre Banon
in Accra, Ghana. The session focused on governance and democratic principles and practice. A friend of mine watched me facilitate. After the session, he gave me this feedback:
However, poor economic management by the one-party and military regimes in most sub-Saharan African countries due to the lack of accountable institutions from 1970 to the late 1980s led to the collapse of several African economies. This situation called for the implementation of Structural Adjustment Programmes to mitigate economic woes.
Between 1990 and 2015, it became apparent across Africa that democracy was the preferred approach. According to a poll conducted by, about two-thirds of Africans surveyed in 34 African countries preferred democracy. Afrobarometer aligned democracy to respondents’ preference to live in open and freer societies.
However, the impressive economic progression and achievements of Rwanda in the last decade have reignited the arguments that solving Africa’s economic woes requires autocrats as leaders.
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