State Fragility and State Building in Africa

Dr. Dele Olowu is a freelance consultant on governance and capacity development. He was formerly Professor of Administration and Local Government in Nigeria and has taught and conducted research in numerous other countries, including the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Ghana, Botswana, Namibia, Canada and the United States. He has served as adviser to African governments and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank, as well as on development policy management boards in Africa and Europe. Olowu has pastored churches in Nigeria, Ethiopia and the Netherlands and currently oversees the network of Redeemed Christian Church of God churches in the Netherlands and the rest of mainland Europe. He has studied at the Universities of Ibadan and Ife and Birmingham University and is the author of several books and over 60 articles. Dr. Paulos Chanie is an Ethiopian. He holds a Ph.D in Development Studies (2007) from The Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands. Dr. Paulos has been teaching in tertiary level educational institutions, doing research and consulting for local and international organizations in areas of public policy and administration, development management, decentralization and civil service reform. He has published in the areas of public service management, ethnic politics, clientelism, civil service reform and decentralization. He has served as head of department at Addis Ababa University and General Secretary of Ethiopian Management Professionals Association. Dr. Paulos is currently an Assistant Professor at Addis Ababa University and the Director of Research at OSSREA (Organization for Social Science research in Eastern and Southern Africa).

In State Fragility in Africa: Impact and Capacity Building Approaches, Professor Dele Olowu examines the various manifestations of the subject through country case studies from  Eastern, Central and Southern sub-regions of the African continent (Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe).  Readers would find echoes of the issues examined in the book in the recent instability in Mali and the on-going crises in the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan. In a thoughtful and insightful concluding chapter, Olowu recommends a range of sensible measures for assuring strong governance institutions that can help mitigate the risks of fragility in African countries. This is a timely and well-researched contribution to the literature on state fragility in Africa. Ladipo Adamolekun, Professor of Public Administration and a former Lead Public Sector Management Specialist in the World Bank. State Fragility in Africa: Drivers, Impact and Capacity Building Approaches is one of the most comprehensive publications on the subject matter of state fragility in Africa. Dele Olowu and Paulo Chanie’s contribution to the current developments in the African State is by far the most authoritative, well-informed and nuanced commentary that should be taken seriously by academics, policy makers and researchers alike. Covering social, economic and political foundations of fragility, weakness of regional institutions, poverty amidst wealth and skewed neighborhood policies in conflict and post-conflict states, this book alerts us of the risk ofadopting single issue attributions of state fragility. It goes further to show the way on how to understand and eventually come to grips with resolving these intricate issues. This book offers food for thought, a manifesto for professionals and practitioners. It is a must read by those concerned with developing the capacity of fragile states in Africa and elsewhere as well those strive to lament the significant academic and findings intellectual reflections of this multidisciplinary research and study. Mohamed Salih, Professor Politics of Development both at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam (where he is Deputy Rector for Research) and the Department of Political Science, University of Leiden in the Netherlands.Mohamed Salih, Professor Politics of Development both at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam (where he is Deputy Rector for Research) and the Department of Political Science, University of Leiden in the Netherlands.

• Chapter 1. Introduction. State Fragility and State Building in Africa.- Part I. Drivers of Fragility.- Chapter 2. Kenya: The Social Foundations of State Fragility: Challenges of AGrowing Democracy; Otieno Aluoka.- Chapter 3. Zimbabwe: Institutionalized Corruption and State Fragility; Langtone Maunganidze.- Chapter 4. South Africa: State Fragility as State Incapacity in the Post-Apartheid Era; Sifiso Ndlovu.- Part II. Impact of Fragility on Citizens and Neighbouring States.- Chapter 5. Zimbabwe: The Impact of Fragility on Social Services, 2000-2008; Norbert Musekiwa.- Chapter 6. Southern African Region: Regional Dynamics of Fragile States -Zimbabwe in the Southern Africa Region; Lee M. Habasonda.- Chapter 7. Ethiopia: Effectiveness of Capacity Building Programs in Fragile States; Wisdom Gagakuma and Zigiju Samuel.- Chapter 8. Angola: Overcoming Resource Curse: A Post-Conflict Governance Analysis; Albert Arko-Cobbah and Basie Olivier.- Chapter 9. Congo DRC: State Fragility And Capacity Building In Sub-Saharan Africa; Mukole Kongolo and Agostino M. Zamberia.- Chapter 10. Lesotho: Electoral Reforms and State Fragility; Oscar Gakuo Mwangi.- Chapter 11. Conclusion: From State Fragility to State Resilience; Way Forward.