Underdevelopment In Africa

Leadership, corruption and mismanagement is the root cause of underdevelopment in countries in sub-Sahara Africa

African countries have experienced poor political leadership informed by bad governance that has been a barrier to social and economic development. The refusal of some African leaders to be open and honest with the public shows a disregard for the people who put them in power, and in turn erodes public trust in the leaders themselves. African leaders are not accountable to the public that put them in power and this erode the moral fabric of the society.

A critical analysis on the reasons of underdevelopment in Africa says security is a pre-condition for economic development. Wars and general civil strife have destroyed much-admired

It is often said that African leaders put first their personal interests than anything else. It is obvious that their self-interest may not be the interest of the public at large. Corruption, nepotism, egoism and abuse of power are the major characteristics of African leaders. But, we need to bear in mind that there are also some exceptional African Heads of State and Government that have been serving the interests of the general public form the very day of their leadership.

African leadership usually fails due to two major leadership failure dimensions. These are the ethical and effectiveness (skill) failure dimensions. Leaders in Africa have usually ethical failure. Ethical failure usually comes from abuse of power. Leaders in the continent tend to be transactional and self-centered. They usually loss the moral virtue to lead. All these things goes with ethical failures in leadership. And as far as effectiveness failure is concerned, many leaders in Africa don 't have the sufficient know how of what they are leading. They also lack the natural and experience based skills of leadership in many

Corruption has monumental effects on the political, economic, social and cultural well-being of societies. In Africa, corruption has a central negatively effects on governance and development on the continent. Africa continues to lag behind other continents. The grim situation of Africa can be summarized in the words of Rwekaza et al (2006) who observed that ‘while other regions increased per capita, raised literacy rates and improved healthcare, per capita income in Africa was roughly the same in 1990s as it was at independence in the