Analyzing Sources of Instability in Africa: A Comprehensive Review (original) (raw)
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Structural Pressures and Political Instability: Trajectories for Sub-Saharan Africa
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and violent conflict. Understanding the nature and trajectories of structural pressures is key for conflict prevention, development and peacebuilding. Using five models of instability and the International Futures system, this report finds that the risk from demographics and poor development has eased and will reduce further. Anocratic regimes pose the greatest challenge to stability, and horizontal inequalities are likely to continue to fuel grievances.
For years indefinite, African states have been in conflict either against one another or within countries themselves experiencing civil wars. Arguably, the scale of wars in Africa is lager that in any continent in the world. This is a course for concern and a reason to investigate the reasons why most African states are in disarray. A tentative hypothesis to the question of conflict in Africa may be ascribed to foreign interference, ethnicity, ritual cleansings and the physical resources of the continent. However, it is worth determining what may be the cause, who and what may be fuelling conflicts in the continent and what could be a possible solution. Furthermore, questions may arise on the role of the African Union in intervening and whether in one way or the other, the AU may also be suspect in continued African conflicts. This paper reviews the causes of conflict in the African continent. The focus is to determine the major causes of conflict and how these contribute to the African economic meltdown. The analysis will further determine whether foreign powers contribute to the African conflicts and the reason for such interference if there are any.
Conflicts in Africa: Meaning, Causes, Impact and Solution
The continent of Africa has been highly susceptible to intra and inter-state wars and conflicts. This has prompted the insinuation that Africa is the home of wars and instability. Most pathetic about these conflagrations is that they have defied any meaningful solution and their negative impacts have retarded growth and development in Africa while an end to them seems obscure. What then are the causes of these unending wars in Africa? How far have they weakened cohesion, unity and the potential development of the African continent? What can we do to overcome this monster? Answers to these questions form the bone of contention of this paper.
Political violence: why conflicts can result from sub-Saharan African socioeconomic conditions
Journal of Business and Socio- economic Development, 2022
Purpose-This study investigates the extent to which, and in what ways and capacities, the incidence of adverse economic conditions burdening the masses, on the macro-level, increases the propensity for the generation of political instability/violence. Design/methodology/approach-Drawing on data from a cross-section of 25 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries for the period 2005-2019, fixed effects (FE) and generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations are used to determine the nature and significance of the independent variable (economic condition), complemented by three control variables, on the dependent WGI-defined variable political stability scored on the basis of a continuum from -2.5 (most unstable) to +2.5 (most stable). For the link between political instability and socioeconomic conditions, the study employs a construct derived from frustration-aggression and relative deprivation theory. Findings-The study links socioeconomic adversity to political instability in the context of SSA. In addition, larger populated countries exhibit a greater propensity to political instability than smaller populated countries. In contrast, foreign direct investment (FDI) appears to have no real effect, positive or negative, on political stability. Practical implications-Poor living conditions seem to be strongly associated with a high risk of political violence in SSA. To buoy socioeconomic status, poverty alleviation needs be elevated into a key initiative in the decision-making agenda, at all levels of governance, with real targeted strides achieved in terms of enhancement of the standard of living of the masses. In addition, policies that control population need to be inaugurated hand-in-hand with welfare measures and a more equitable balancing of the distribution of resources in the society. Originality/value-Given the high regional incidence of civil strife and violence, combined with a dearth of research of an empirical nature on political risk in SSA, this study provides a largely ignored and useful context on SSA apart from studies on the incidence of violence that consider the developing countries as a monolithic whole.
Conflicts in Africa: Meaning, Causes, Impact and Solutiondeoti
African Research Review, 2011
The continent of Africa has been highly susceptible to intra and interstate wars and conflicts. This has prompted the insinuation that Africa is the home of wars and instability. Most pathetic about these conflagrations is that they have defied any meaningful solution and their negative impacts have retarded growth and development in Africa while an end to them seems obscure. What then are the causes of these unending wars in Africa? How far have they weakened cohesion, unity and the potential development of the African continent? What can we do to overcome this monster? Answers to these questions form the bone of contention of this paper.
The Role of Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa
2018
Sub-Saharan Africa is the provider of many critical natural resources. With such resources, one would expect these countries to have thriving economies. Why is the opposite case true? To answer such a question, this paper examines a few critical causes that may justify the current economic situation these African countries are experiencing. Specifically, the paper observes the economic impact of civil war and terrorist conflict in sub-Saharan Africa from 1971 to 2016. To explore the changes in GDP per capita for all these years, this thesis sheds light on three independent variables: year of conflict, education level, and foreign direct investment for many of the 47 sub-Saharan African countries. Replicating Paul Collier’s Bottom Billion, this thesis will delve into more recent trends of the past two decades, and why the lack of economic advancement is pertinent to these countries. With the results obtained, this thesis proposes solutions to lowering the impact of civil conflict, an...
Violent Conflicts and Civil Strife in West Africa: Causes, Challenges and Prospects
Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2014
The advent of intra-state conflicts or ‘new wars’ in West Africa has brought many of its economies to the brink of collapse, creating humanitarian casualties and concerns. For decades, countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea- Bissau were crippled by conflicts and civil strife in which violence and incessant killings were prevalent. While violent conflicts are declining in the sub-region, recent insurgencies in the Sahel region affecting the West African countries of Mali, Niger and Mauritania and low intensity conflicts surging within notably stable countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal sends alarming signals of the possible re-surfacing of internal and regional violent conflicts. These conflicts are often hinged on several factors including poverty, human rights violations, bad governance and corruption, ethnic marginalization and small arms proliferation. Although many actors including the ECOWAS, civil society and international community have been making efforts, conflicts continue to persist in the sub-region and their resolution is often protracted. This paper posits that the poor understanding of the fundamental causes of West Africa’s violent conflicts and civil strife would likely cause the sub-region to continue experiencing and suffering the brunt of these violent wars.
Understanding Africa's contemporary conflicts : origins, challenges and peacebuilding
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Violent conflict in sub-Saharan Africa has been responsible for the direct and indirect deaths of millions of civilians and has contributed significantly to the low levels of human security in the region. The countries of sub-Saharan Africa that have been embroiled in violent conflict are characterised by abject poverty, inadequate service provision, political instability, retarded economic growth and other challenges to overall development that deter the enhancement of human security. The successful and sustainable resolution of these conflicts represents an enormous barrier to future prosperity in the region. Moreover, the post-conflict reconstruction of these countries, and those around them, symbolises perhaps the greatest challenge for sub-Saharan Africa. To design and develop successful policy responses and to learn from previous initiatives, it is thus necessary to fully comprehend the concept of conflict and its context.