Kwasi Ampene

Professor of Music at the University of Michigan (USA)

Email: kwasi.ampene@tufts.edu

Anderson, David M., and Adrian J. Browne. “The Politics of Oil in Eastern Africa.” Journal of Eastern African Studies 5, no. 2 (2011): 369–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2011.573187.

After many years in which the potential for the development of the petroleum industry in eastern Africa has been largely ignored, the last five years has seen a resurgence of interest in oil exploration across the region. Long characterised as a "risky" frontier because of the difficult nature of the region's geology and the volatile character of its politics, the sharp rise in international oil prices, coupled with the difficulties in accessing other supply areas, has altered the prospects for successful commercial development of smaller fields known to exist in the region. The successful discovery of large oil deposits in the Lake Albert region of Uganda has encouraged the industry to view the region more positively, bringing an influx of new and established companies to tender for exploration rights in a wide range of fields covering Puntland, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, Uganda, the DRC, Kenya, and Tanzania. This paper charts the extent of this oil exploration and industry investment in the region over the past decade, and discusses the economic and political implications of significant oil finds for future development. Additional exploitable oil fields may yet be discovered, but if only the Uganda fields are developed this is likely to have a considerable impact of the regional economy and upon relations between neighbouring states.

Source: Article abstract

Andrea Dumebi Iyamah

Fashion Designer, Mississauga/New York/Lagos

380 Courtney Park Drive East

Unit D, Mississauga, ON

Canada

L5T 2S5

Email: admin@andreaiyamah.com

+1 888 675 0308

Website: andreaiyamah.com

Anene, John N. “Military Administrative Behavior and Democratization: Civilian Cabinet Appointments in Military Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Journal of Public Policy 17, no. 1 (1997): 63–80. doi:10.1017/S0143814X00003433.

Military administrators in sub-Saharan Africa often appoint civilian political elites to cabinet positions for the following reasons: to advance effective governance, as a response to demands for transition to civilian rule, and as a political technique to civilianize the military regime. Empirical patterns of civilian cabinet appointments by the types of post-military political regimes show that the nature of civilian involvement in military administration is a valid predictor of the types of regime likely to follow military rule. Further findings confer some historical insights to the programmed and the national conference models of democratization in the region. In addition, military administrative analysis is a way to gain new insights into military transition in the region.

Source: article abstract

Anene, John N. “Military Elites and Democratization: Ghana and Nigeria.” Journal of Political & Military Sociology, 28, no. 2 (2000): 230–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45292813.

This study shows that intra-military elite competitive politics between the military democrats and autocrats determine the nature of democratization in Ghana and Nigeria. Also, the duration of the democratic transition is linked to the resolution of the intra-military democratization puzzle within the political military domain. It was also found that the political sociology of military coup behavior reveals the profiles of the military democratic and autocratic elite groups in the armed forces organization. Furthermore, the active support of retired ranking military elites for civilian electoral rule, since the 1990s, enhances the restoration of electoral civilian democracy. Therefore, both the political military activities within the military regime and within the "uncivil military" sector comprising retired military elites inform military democratic analysis in sub-Saharan Africa. Both sectors of the political military relations determine the "military factor" which is vital for successful democratization and sustaining civilian electoral rule in the region.

Source: article abstract

Ernest Toochi Aniche

Professor, Political Science and International Relations, Federal University Otuoke

Nigeria  

Contact: anicheet@fuotuoke.edu.ng/etaniche@yahoo.com

Francis Annan

Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California Berkeley

Contact: fannan@berkeley.edu

Ansoms, An. Re-Engineering Rural Society: The Visions and Ambitions of the Rwandan Elite, African Affairs, Volume 108, Issue 431, April 2009, Pages 289–309, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adp001

This article analyses the Rwandan elite's visions and ambitions for a wide-ranging re-engineering of rural society. The post-1994 political elite has few links to rural society and the peasant way of life, and sees little room for small-scale peasant agriculture in Rwanda's economic future. The article shows how current Rwandan policy makers aim to realize three social engineering ambitions: first, to transform the agricultural sector into a professionalized motor for economic growth, centred on competitive and commercial farm units; second, to artificially upgrade rural life by inserting ‘modern’ techniques and strategies into local realities, while hiding true poverty and inequality; and, finally, to transform Rwanda into a target-driven society from the highest to the lowest level. The article points to the (potential) dangers, flaws, and shortcomings of this rural re-engineering mission, and illustrates how the state as the engineer ‘hovers’ above the local without consulting those affected. It concludes that contemporary polices are unlikely to be conducive to poverty reduction.

Source: Article's abstract