The leadership crisis in the African socio-political space has the same source as the failing economies and crumpling African governance institutions – colonialism and lack of local innovation.  Current governments replaced colonial representative but retained their structures; the governance institutions are not compatible with local traditions and culture; they are a legacy of colonialism and often cause conflict between government, governance structures and the average person because they are not relatable to the people.  

By design, colonial-founded governance institutions undermine instead of representing local traditions; they marginalise instead of increasing the opportunities for local communities to participate in decisions about how they are led. Governments have often resorted to militarising the State in the hope of maintaining stability but that has been a spectacular failure as evidenced by the rise of armed, violent non-state organisations and related instability and insecurity across the continent – the Sahel region being an example.

Strengthening African structures will not be born out of killing the African identity and, by implication, everything that is traditional to Africa and replacing it with everything that is Western, but by strengthening many things that are traditional to Africa by some elements from other societies, including the West, that improve the responsiveness of our traditional institutions to the challenges of the day. Before colonialism, Africans were not a lost cause in need of external help; Africa had working leadership structures; there were kings and queens and institutions that played an effective supportive role in the model.

While there is no operational advantage today for most African states to go back to the kings and queens model, there is no reason why Africa cannot progress on the foundations of its extant traditions and build mutually beneficial interdependencies NOT imposed dependencies with the rest of the global powers; we need leaders who will be close enough to relate to local governance structures, but far enough ahead to improve them so their design and institutions are fit for purpose and forward looking.

Maintaining moral clarity to appreciate the needs of the average person and stirring away from greed and systems that encourage concentration of wealth and power on the few is foundational to the African development. The African way of life is fundamentally communal, and careful consideration must be taken when introducing foreign governance systems and institutions – land ownership and use and protection of communal, traditional and culturally significant lands is critical to the development of communities.

Emphasis on the community and skills sharing is what will stabilise and empower Africa; economic design must closely relate with the social, traditional and cultural design so that locals are not forced to fit into economic systems, but systems are made to fit into local designs to promote compatibility and ensure businesses have significant ready-made local markets for their products while also exploring international markets.

Forced co-optation of Africa into capitalism exposed the continent to an unfair global economic structure designed for the profitability of the Western industry and Western markets. Uncontrolled capitalism has proven to be effective at ravaging local community resources yet giving back very little in return. A mixed economic model is what Africa requires for sustained robust economic growth and to ensure strong social welfare, labour unions and environmental protections.

Liberation movements-turned government have failed the African continent and average person; they are disconnected from the aspirations of the people while building a black elite few and enriching their families. They have largely failed to disentangle themselves from the highly compromised colonial structures that continue to suppress interests of the average person.

A new crop of leaders with a vision fit for purpose are required; leaders must understand and be empathetic to the circumstances of their people and possess a clear vision of where they want their countries to move to and have the confidence to create safe spaces for healthy debate on their goals. Africa needs to build governance systems that work for Africa and stop copying and pasting systems because they are approved or recommended by the U.S. and the West. Let us take from the Western designs that which improves ours – oversight institutions to improve accountability and efficiency but the measurement tools must be designed locally in line with local definitions of development.

Critical governance infrastructure needs to reflect culture and traditions of people and communities it is meant to govern, or it becomes a cause for unending conflict. Africa will not develop on the foundation of foreign developed structures no matter how effective they seem to be in their countries of origin.