Leaders for a new Africa? Democrats, autocrats and development

Political leadership is a crucial ingredient for development. While the commonly-held image of Africa is still often associated with dictatorships and underdevelopment, the sub-Saharan region has been undergoing important transformations. The political landscape has become increasingly diverse – with young and often precarious democracies alongside new forms of authoritarian rule as well as mixed regimes – and economic trajectories have also become rather differentiated. In a number of African countries, in particular, new national leaders recently raised hopes that fragile processes of political change are underway which will also deliver economic dividends. This volume explores the political leadership-economic development link in the context of Africa’s contemporary scenario. It begins by mapping out the types of power-holders that are found at the helm across the continent on the eve of 2020, with a particular focus on the changing ways in which they reach office (i.e. the ballot box more often than the gun). It then looks, in what largely remains a poor region, at their track records in terms of growth and development achievements: are electoral incentives inducing democratically-voted leaders to perform better than authoritarian office-holders? Or is it the latter rulers that head the region’s fastest-developing economies? Are development achievements related to the capacity of a power-holder to retain office? And what is the role of external actors: do they back Africa’s long-lasting rulers for the sake of stability in a fragile region, or do they prioritize change and support new democratic chief executives? These and other issues are examined in a series of case studies that shed light on the actual extent to which the advent of new leaders – including the likes of Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia, Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa and João Lourenço in Angola – is bringing new directions to the politics and development of the countries they rule.