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Depuis les indépendances africaines, plusieurs théories ont été formulées sur les défis du développement en Afrique et les voies les plus appropriées pour éradiquer la pauvreté et améliorer le niveau de vie des masses populaires. Malgré leurs incarnations multiples, deux courants théoriques contradictoires continuent d’animer le débat sur ce sujet. Il s’agit du courant hégémonique véhiculé par les pays occidentaux et les institutions financières internationales sous leur contrôle, et le courant contre-hégémonique des progressistes africains. Quelles leçons pouvons-nous tirer de ces deux approches contradictoires sur les défis du développement en Afrique?

In a critical study of the postcolonial state in Africa, Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja examines four major challenges of democratic and developmental governance in the continent. This is done in a comprehensive analysis of nation building as a process of consolidating democratic rights through the rule of law, full citizenship, and access to a higher standard of living for all. In order to meet these three challenges, the challenge of state capacity building for effective governance must be met as well. This requires democratizing the state, modernizing the civil service, cleaning up and retraining revenue collection agencies, transforming law enforcement agencies from repressive to protective services, and strengthening economic and social development agencies for purposes of eradicating poverty.

While Africans are generally satisfied that a person of African descent was reelected to the White House following a campaign in which vicious and racist attacks were made against him, the U.S. Africa policy under President Barack Obama will continue to be guided by the strategic interests of the United States, which are not necessarily compatible with the popular aspirations for democracy, peace, and prosperity in Africa. Obama's policy in the Great Lakes region provides an excellent illustration of this point. Since Rwanda and Uganda are Washington's allies in the "war against terror" in Darfur and Somalia, respectively, the Obama administration has done little to stop Kigali and Kampala from destabilizing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and looting its natural resources, either directly or through proxies. Rwanda and Uganda have even been included in an international oversight mechanism that is supposed to guide governance and security sector reforms in the DRC, but whose real objective is to facilitate Western access to the enormous natural wealth of the Congo and the Great Lakes region.Resume: Bien que les Africains soient en general satisfaits par l'election d'un citoyen d'heritage africain a la Maison Blanche a la suite d'une campagne pendant laquelle des attaques racistes avaient ete faites contre lui, les relations US Afrique sous la presidence de Barack Obama continuent d'etre guidees par les interets strategiques des Etats-Unis, qui ne sont pas necessairement compatibles avec les aspirations populaires de democratie, de paix et de prosperite en Afrique. La politique d'Obama dans la region des Grands Lacs offre une excellente illustration de cet argument. Puisque les nations du Rwanda et de l'Ouganda se sont ralliees a Washington dans la guerre contre le terrorisme au Darfour et en Somalie respectivement, le gouvernement d'Obama n'a pas fait grand chose pour arreter Kigali et Kampala dans leur destabilisation de la Republique Democratique du Congo (RDC) et leur pillage de ses ressources naturelles, soit de maniere directe, soit par procuration. Le Rwanda et l'Ouganda ont ete inclus dans un mecanisme international de supervision suppose guider la gouvernance et les reformes du secteur de la securite en RDC, mais dont les objectifs reels sont l'acces aux immenses richesses naturelles du Congo et de la region des Grands Lacs.Key Words: 2012 presidential electionFor the second time, I share the satisfaction of most Africans that a person of African descent was elected to the White House, and one whose domestic agenda is generally progressive. Compared to my feelings in 2008, this satisfaction is all the more plentiful in view of the great maturity shown by the American people in reelecting Barack Obama in the face of a barrage of vicious and racist attacks of which he was a victim during the electoral campaign, and even before. His opponents alleged, inter alia, that he was not a natural-born citizen of the United States, in what became known as "birthism," a definitely racist phenomenon; that he was a "Kenyan anticolonialist"; and that he did not "understand America" or share "American values."In short, these attacks were clearly racist and beyond the bounds of propriety, as many of the statements made against the President would never be leveled against a white incumbent of the White House. And I can say this without fear of contradiction, since I have lived in this country since 1962, and have seen how the nine white presidents who came before Obama were treated by both the news media and political opponents. The usual deference to the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces was cast aside.At the same time, as shown in my contribution to the ASR Forum on "Africa in the Age of Obama" (Nzongola-Ntalaja 2010), I do not agree with President Obama's Africa policy in general, and his policy in the Great Lakes region in particular. For like his predecessors, this first U. …

Recent waves of democratic transformation include the rapid extension of multi‐party democracy. This new stage of State building in Africa can be viewed from the lens of Amilcar Cabral's contributions, from theory to revolutionary practice. The author argues that the political vision of Cabral and other beacons of his generation have not been emulated since and that most Africans continue to hope for a political order which is more participatory and just.

The denial of full citizenship rights to selected individuals and groups in Africa has triggered political violence. In many instances, these conflicts have slowed down the democratization process, which is essential for pulling Africa out of poverty and placing it more firmly on the path of stability and sustainable development. This failure to democratize has implications for national, regional, and global governance. More numerous than ethnic wars, are cases of inter-communal violence that involve the denial of full citizenship rights to minorities. Like violent conflicts at the provincial and national levels, inter-communal violence has an adverse impact on the democratization process. The development of genuinely democratic local governance and the nurturing of a democratic culture of participation, tolerance, respect for diversity, and equity are impeded drastically without full citizenship rights for all residents.

Extracted from text ... 1 VOLUME 2 NO 1 LA GUERRE, LA PAIX ET LA DEMOCRATIE AU CONGO Par Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja INTRODUCTION Quelle est la nature du conflit arm? en R?publique d?mocratique du Congo? S'agitil d'une guerre civile, comme les m?dias internationaux persistent et signent ou avons-nous affaire ? une guerre d'agression ext?rieure, comme l'affirment les autorit?s de Kinshasa et les patriotes congolais? Ind?pendamment de la position qu'on prendrait vis-?-vis du r?gime instaur? par Laurent-D?sir? Kabila au Congo, force est de reconna?tre le bien-fond? de sa position, d'autant plus que les groupements rebelles ont ?t? mis sur pied apr?s l'invasion du pays par ..

The death or internal displacement of millions of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since independence on 30 June 1960 can be traced, directly or indirectly, to what Mahmood Mamdani has termed "the crisis of post-colonial citizenship" (Mamdani 2001: 19-39). This chapter provides a brief historical analysis of two cases - the crisis associated with the Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Rwanda and Burundi and its repercussions in the entire Great Lakes region, and ethnic cleansing in Katanga province - with a view to showing how the politics of citizenship can be used to inhibit or frustrate political emancipation and democratisation. The first is directly tied to ethnic identity politics and the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda, and the second to colonial and post-colonial political manipulation aimed at weakening the emancipatory and democratisation processes. Keywords: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Hutu-Tutsi conflict; Katanga province; political community

What is the nature of the armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Is it a civil war, as constantly reported by the international media, or is it a war resulting from foreign aggression, as indicated by the authorities in Kinshasa? Irrespective of what one may think of the regime set up by Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the DRC, the legitimacy of his position needs to be recognised, especially considering that rebel groups only became active after the country was invaded by Rwanda and Uganda on 2 August 1998. Why did the war break out in the DRC? How is it that a country the size of an entire continent was invaded, occupied and exploited by much smaller states such as Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi? This article attempts to answer these questions.

In a report released on September 16, 1993, Amnesty International came up with an apt description of the current human rights situation in Zaire as consisting of “violence against democracy.” In a violent backlash against the democratization process, the regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko has plunged the country into “its worst human rights crisis since the end of the civil war in the early 1960s.” More than 5,000 people have been killed and more than 100,000 displaced in ethnic cleansing in the Shaba and North Kivu provinces. Moreover, repeated looting, extortion, and other acts of violence by Mobutu’s army have endangered the lives of millions of people all over the country, particularly in the major cities.

The DRC needs an army and a government the people can trust if it is to stop the plunder and conflict

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