Creating capable developmental states in Africa : an essential driver for realization of agenda 2063

Abstract EN

The African Union (AU) has adopted Agenda 2063 as the continent’s development vision for the next fifty years.

In order to realize this vision, several drivers of change have been identified.

Among these, creating capable developmental states occupies a central place.

This is a paradigm shift which marks the “return of the state” in Africa, after a long period of dogmatic policy prescriptions that pushed the state to the periphery of development especially during the era of unchallenged hegemony of the structural adjustment programmes (SAP) imposed on African countries by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The paper therefore argues that as African countries seek to build Capable Developmental States, valuable lessons can be learned from the developmental experience of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).