Ethnicity: The Challenge to Good Governance and Development In Africa

Different reasons have been given by scholars for the underdevelopment of African countries. One of such reasons is colonialism and the related style of governance. It has been argued that the colonizers were only interested in siphoning the resources of Africa to develop their home nations. They therefore adopted styles of governance that enabled them to achieve their purposes. However, associating the poor state of development of African countries to reasons of colonialism is no more plausible. This is because almost all of these countries have gained political independence and are self-governing. Like African countries, China, Hong Kong, India and South Korea were colonized. But after their independence, because of purposeful leadership, sheer determination and forthrightness, today, they have recorded discernable developments. While colonialism might have militated against the development of African nations in the past, this paper identifies ethnicity as a key factor today impacting negatively on good governance with resultant underdevelopment. The paper argues that multi-ethnic nature of most African nations has rich resources which could contribute to good governance if properly harnessed. The paper recognizes that today competitive ethnicity is the bane for bad governance and conflicts in some African countries. Drawing a lot from historical antecedents of ethnic challenges in Africa, the paper hinges arguments and analysis from examples and illustrations from some African countries. It also examines ways the multiple talents and capabilities that abound in multi-ethnic Africa could be utilized for its development through good governance.