Africa Up Close

Elections in Africa often bring fear and anxiety, and some have resulted in protracted violent conflicts. Elections in 2020 come with additional threats, some beyond the control of the nations involved. The electoral processes in 2020—which will have taken place in a dozen African countries by the end of the year—are being conducted in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its attendant economic slowdown. More dangerously, the countries in the Sahel region— Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso—and neighboring countries in coastal West Africa—Ghana, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire—are seriously threatened by violent extremism. 2020 is testing the resilience of African governance institutions in the midst of old and emerging threats. On the one hand, nations administering elections are expected to perform beyond the normal to be able to contain the barrage of threats. On the other hand, over-concentration on elections may lead governments to neglect important policy measures, which could, in turn, devastate national economies by, for example, diverting resources needed for security and health.

Mining at the Tarkwa Mine in Ghana. Photo via Wikimedia Commons. 

“Galamsey”[1]

Africa is endowed with numerous natural resources including gold, ore, copper, bauxite, manganese, and timber among others. Formal extractive companies do not offer much employment to local people, pushing them to find employment through illegal mining practices. The influx of small-scale and illegal miners, mostly Chinese to Africa, has worsened the illegal mining activities on the continent with migrant miners abusing mining laws and mining practices. Mining communities in Africa are experiencing numerous detrimental impacts environmentally, socially, and economically from mining. According to a report by Oxfam Australia, mining can negatively affect people by forcing them from their homes and farms and preventing them from accessing clean land and water.[2]

African countries, generally and historically speaking, have a track record of weak performance on all fronts of development. Many African countries are now poorer than they were at independence. The continent is often described in and associated with negative terms like conflict, corruption, poverty, and disease. Many are often referred to as ‘failed’ states. In response to the many development challenges facing the continent, international development partners, notably the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank, have proffered several reforms on the continent. Programs such as economic liberalization, democratization, decentralization, and public sector reorganization have been implemented, yet overall, recent assessment reports (e.g. The World Bank and The African Development Bank) have recorded mixed results.

The role of political parties in a democracy is uncontested. Indeed, representative democracy cannot operate without political parties. Political parties are the instruments for the conduct of elections in a democracy. They serve as the mobilizing force for elections in a multi-party democracy. However, there is no doubt that the maintenance of effective political parties in between elections, and campaign financing during elections, are increasingly becoming expensive projects. Certainly, debate on political party financing, especially on campaign financing, has dominated the literature on multiparty elections with various propositions of ideal modes of practice. Dominant among these propositions are (1) state funding of political parties and (2) legal and constitutional reforms to regulate political party campaign financing.

In September 2009, 189 heads of state gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the Millennium Summit. The Summit adopted the eight point Poverty Reduction Agenda, which later became known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  The eight MDGs sought to encourage all countries to address human development challenges. The goals also conform to provisions in national constitutions in many of the countries that participated in the summit. The MDGs essentially seek to advance basic human rights, such as the right of every person to health, education, shelter and security as pledged in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Millennium Declaration. For example, Chapters 5 and 6 of the 1992 Ghana Constitution offer provisions that are in line with the MDGs, similar to those of many other countries. The MDGs have also been mainstreamed in country-specific development programs, exemplifying the widespread commitment to fulfill the MDGs.