State Fragility and State Building in Africa

Reviews / Votes

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.