Africa's Political Crisis

Most African colonies became independent in the 1950s and 1960s amid hopes that this would be the prelude to an era of democracy and development (Cooper, 2002). By the end of the 1980s, Africa was plagued by instability, authoritarianism, poverty, war and famine. In some countries, the state itself had begun to disintegrate.

There are many reasons for Africa's current state of political instability. For one, continuous rivalry between tribal units is a constant source of disunity (Cooper, 2002). For most of the 19th and early 20th century Africa had lived under colonial rule of the Europeans. Because the European leaders left Africa immediately after it gained independence, many African leaders are relatively inexperienced. Also, many leaders are greedy, corrupt and act entirely based on self-interest. Basically, because multi-party rule encouraged ethnic conflict, one party controlled most African states. This has largely contributed to Africa's political instability....
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