The Travails of Democratic Governance and Economic Development in Africa: A Prognostic Analysis

Democracy as a form of government has recorded a chequered history in African political terrain. Essentially, the causes of drudgery in sustaining the principles and democratic ethos in Africa are fundamentally the concerns of this chapter. Therefore, the chapter unraveled the nuances and intricacies that militated against seamless operations of democracy in Africa. Our data were gathered from secondary source through Documentary Method and we analyzed them using Content Analysis. The study utilized Dependency Theory as a theoretical nexus around which the study revolved; it maintained among others that the harbinger of developmental deficits in Africa is their socio-political and economic subjections to the Western developmental pills. Hence, the hitches in observance of democratic credos in Africa are as a result of alien and imposed nature of the concept to African political milieu. Nevertheless, the chapter found that the impediments in consolidation of democracy in Africa is because African traditional socio-political setting was never a democratic one, rather, they were hierarchically orchestrated with gerontocracy and autocratic principles. However, we suggested that the leaders and the lead have serious responsibility to demonstrate to ensure success of democracy in Africa. On the part of the leaders (government), they should ensure that the dividends of the democracy get to the people while the led should consciously participate in democratic activities of governance. Finally, if the citizens are motivated with the benefits accruing from democracy, it will attract them into observing the principles thereby eliminating the travails of democracy in Africa.