The State of Governance in Africa

The author contends that structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) and subsequent 'good governance' prescriptions failed to spur development in Africa because they focused on formal institutional arrangements while ignoring neo-patrimonialism. In neo-patrimonial states, rulers are primarily accountable to followers (clients) rather than the general public, creating a tension with Western norms of transparency. The paper suggests that state decay occurs when the informal sphere fully takes over formal structures, leading to a 'self-reinforcing spiral of state decay'. To reverse this, the author argues that African governments must move away from donor-driven blueprints and instead operationalise local, indigenous measures of legitimacy and accountability to serve developmental goals.

• Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) introduced from the mid-1970s failed to deliver substantial development because they focused on reducing the scope of the state through 'free market' visions and drastic expenditure cuts, which often increased poverty and degraded infrastructure.
• The transition from SAPs to Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the 'good governance' agenda shifted the focus to political and institutional frameworks, assuming that multiparty elections and civil society involvement were prerequisites for development.
• Economic growth requires a strong, efficient state capable of providing basic order, the rule of law, administrative organisation, infrastructure (communications, transport, electricity, fuel), basic social services, and a non-political financial infrastructure.
• Neo-patrimonialism in Africa creates a system where rulers are primarily accountable to their followers (clients) rather than the general public, meaning there is no meaningful distinction between public and private spheres.
• State decay accelerates when a threshold of minimal efficiency is crossed, leading to a situation where the informal sphere fully invests in or takes over formal structures, resulting in the plundering of public resources for patrimonial purposes.
• The author proposes that African governments should construct their own blueprints for governance, operationalising 'traditional' or informal constraints on power to strengthen the state's ability to govern for all, rather than replicating Western models.
• The example of Somaliland is cited as a successful home-grown model of governance based on a 'traditional' clan socio-political order that has ended violence and reconstructed basic infrastructure.

APA

Chabal, P. (2009). The State of Governance in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Occasional-Paper-26.pdf

Chicago

Chabal, Patrick. The State of Governance in Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2009. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Occasional-Paper-26.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chabal |first1=Patrick |title=The State of Governance in Africa |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2009 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Occasional-Paper-26.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chabal2009state, author = {Chabal, Patrick}, title = {{The State of Governance in Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2009}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Occasional-Paper-26.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }