Looking at the two main headlines on the BBC News Africa page this morning:
The First: Uganda MPs suspend all oil deals
The Second: Huge' turnout in Liberian poll
The first headline: the old goad of Africa, of the developing world, of transparency, of a relatively stable government, that has been held up as a model of good governance and lauded in the West (albeit with many personal reservations, but still, an improvement over Amin!) now facing a rapid influx of cash as the result of natural resource discovery. How will these resources be managed in a state with weak democratic institutions? This headline does not bode well for the impact of natural resource revenues on governments (aka the Nigeria Syndrome vis a vis Dutch Disease).
And the Second: The promise of true, peaceful, meaningful democratic transition in a post-conflict society. In what was, only a short decade ago, a war-ravaged derelict state, a chance of following the Ghana model, of pure and peaceful African democratic transition. The real test will yet to be seen: If Sirleaf will accept defeat and pass power peacefully if defeated by Tubman. All hope for African democracy can be boiled down to this particular moment in time.
The First: Uganda MPs suspend all oil deals
The Second: Huge' turnout in Liberian poll
The first headline: the old goad of Africa, of the developing world, of transparency, of a relatively stable government, that has been held up as a model of good governance and lauded in the West (albeit with many personal reservations, but still, an improvement over Amin!) now facing a rapid influx of cash as the result of natural resource discovery. How will these resources be managed in a state with weak democratic institutions? This headline does not bode well for the impact of natural resource revenues on governments (aka the Nigeria Syndrome vis a vis Dutch Disease).
And the Second: The promise of true, peaceful, meaningful democratic transition in a post-conflict society. In what was, only a short decade ago, a war-ravaged derelict state, a chance of following the Ghana model, of pure and peaceful African democratic transition. The real test will yet to be seen: If Sirleaf will accept defeat and pass power peacefully if defeated by Tubman. All hope for African democracy can be boiled down to this particular moment in time.
