African Studies
Utafiti: Journal of African Perspectives
Call for Papers: Utafiti is inviting you to submit your manuscript – any topic in the humanities - for consideration in the next issues.
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Robin Attfield talks about how Africa finds itself vulnerable to drought but also the flooding of its coastline, among other untoward environmental effects of climate change and civil war.
Due to Africa's high profile on the international agenda, the continent featured prominently in European politics. The UN stocktaking conference for MDGs served as an international rallying point for discussions, which focused largely on financing for development and Africa's share of global development assistance. For Europe, crisis and reform lay close together.
Angola continued to face a triple transition from war to peace, from devastation to reconstruction and from a state/elite patronage system to a transparent market economy. The first two advanced further, with concerns expressed over delays in the third and government's commitment to reform. Key questions, including the date of elections, remained largely unanswered in the year, although the movement into a post-conflict situation under government control continued. Little happened in terms of government's spreading growth beyond the capital-intensive oil sector to create the conditions for labour-intensive poverty-reducing growth and to allow a genuine private sector to develop. Despite rhetoric on increased transparency, accountability and democratisation, little was accomplished to overcome the gap between rulers and ruled. Nor was there much done to address the needs of, or instability in rural areas or shanty towns.
Political life was largely dominated by the preparations for the presidential election scheduled for March 2006. If President Kérékou's decision not to amend the constitution and to leave the presidency was welcomed, the electoral process had made only slow progress by the end of the year, and the government's willingness to effectively organise the election was uncertain.
Following general elections in 2004, factional strife within the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) continued. Newfound opposition unity passed its first test in by-elections. The deportation of an Australian academic tarnished the country's image as a frontrunner in protecting human rights. A 12% devaluation of the national currency boosted inflation, while substantial growth derived mainly from diamond production. HIV/AIDS continued to threaten socioeconomic development.
The political year was dominated by the presidential elections that took place on Sunday 13 November. The contested candidacy of the incumbent President Compaoré and the weakness of the opposition were major features of the election process. Topics that dominated the elections were the impact of the continued violence in Côte d'Ivoire and the slowing of economic growth.
Democratic elections, as the last step in the transition period, radically transformed the political landscape and confronted the country with challenges of reconstruction, reconciliation and peace. The electoral success of the former rebels of the ‘Conseil National pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie’ (CNDD-FDD), including the election of their leader Pierre Nkurunziza as president, gave the party control of all branches of government. Only one rebel movement, ‘Parti pour la Libération du Peuple Hutu – Forces Nationales de la Libération’ (Palipehutu-FNL), rejected the electoral process and continued its violent attacks. Apart from continued violence, political changes at the national level threatened the fragile peace process, which was based on a very delicate and complicated ethnic quota system in accordance with the model of consociational democracy. For the first time since independence, a dispute over power, at times violent, among Hutu parties eclipsed the traditional Hutu-Tutsi inter-ethnic conflict. Furthermore, the elections left key political figures with an uncertain future. Moreover, although CNDD-FDD publicly espoused an anti-ethnic discourse and included Hutu and Tutsi at all political levels, it was too early to conclude that ethnicity would no longer be a possible source of conflict. CNDD-FDD had become the dominant national political force, with the temptation for it to slide into authoritarian rule. The economic and social situation remained very precarious.
Following their overwhelming victories in the most recent presidential (2004) and legislative elections (2002), President Biya and his party continued to dominate the political scene, aided by divisions and disagreements among the opposition. The government's main objective was to reach the completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt-relief initiative. To this end, the restoration of fiscal discipline was at the centre of its economic reform programme. However, cuts in public expenditure on goods and services and a substantial increase in taxes lowered purchasing power and disturbed business confidence.
The IMF praised the country's economic performance. Considerably higher foreign aid, increased emigrant remittances and growing foreign direct investment in tourism sustained estimated GDP growth at 7%. However, given the economy's vulnerability to external shocks and persistent dependence on foreign assistance, the government feared the negative consequences of the expected graduation from the Least Developed Countries status, because of the possible loss of access to concessionary lending. Towards the end of the year, the country prepared for legislative and presidential elections in early 2006.
Instability continued to characterise the sub-region, although no major new armed conflict was recorded. Two alleged coup d'etats were reported (Chad, Congo). A high number of small arms were in circulation and were used, for example, in the northern part of the Central African Republic (CAR). However, the main countries of concern were the particularly fragile Chad and, once again, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). The election calendar saw only two national elections (CAR and Gabon). CEMAC prepared for a phase of modernisation under the new presidency of Equatorial Guinea.
Presidential and legislative elections dominated public debate, but insecurity in the north and floods in the south were more immediate threats to the population. President Bozizé consolidated his power by winning elections and forming a new coalition government. The plight of the public purse and the misery of large segments of the population had become more apparent in the two years since the civil war ended.