Ethnicity and development in 
sub-Saharan Africa 
NDANGA NOYOO 
ABSTRACT 
This discussion hinges on the notion that sub-Saharan Africa's 
development problems cannot be divorced from the negative 
ramifications of ethnicity. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa 
must first deal with ethnicity before tackling problems of political 
misrule, poverty and human misery. Development efforts in 
the region -must be preceded by the political will on the part of 
national governments to bring forth tangible solutions to the 
question of ethnicity. 
Introduction Spolitica 
UB-SAHARA 
l an
N
d 
Afric 
economi 
a is
c 
presentl 
maladies
y
. Man 
confronte 
y of thes 
d b
e negativ 
y many
e 
socio 
forces
- 
have reshaped people's lives and the manner in which institutions 
respond to their needs. It has been argued in the past that many 
problems currently besieging the sub-continent of Africa emanate 
from the wanton exploitation by imperial European nations of the 
region's human and natural resources for more than four centuries. 
This exploitation and subjugation still continues today although in a 
more subtle and refined way. Even though political or "flag 
independence" has been attained in sub-Saharan Africa there has been 
insignificant progress in areas of economic emancipation. This has 
led to the re-colonization of the region through conditional aid and 
the regulation of prices of the region's exports by former imperial 
nations. 
Although this conspiracy thesis was accepted for some time, 
especially during the anti-colonial struggles of the 1950s, 1960s and 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 NO. 2 JULY 2000 55
1970s, some Africans today have also come to terms with the fact 
that many of the problems facing sub-Saharan countries are self 
inflicted. Indeed the blatant and senseless killing of Africans by 
depraved African regimes, such as those of Idi Amin in Uganda and 
Jean Bokasa in the Central African Republic after the attainment of 
political independence, has reawakened both scholars and activists 
to the reality that such factors contributed immensely to the region's 
current poor performance in areas of human development. Rightminded 
Africans are now more cautious about attributing Africa's woes 
wholly to colonialism or neo-colonialism. When we analyse Africa's 
political and economic catastrophes it is clear that one self inflicted 
misery that is central to Africa's current situation is that of ethnicity. 
To someone who has not visited the continent, Africa south of the 
Sahara conjures up images of emaciated children, the victims of 
famines caused by drought and desertification. This is a very different 
image from the Africa of thirty years ago when the flags of the newly 
independent states were being raised and a feeling of optimism were 
widespread beyond as well as within Africa (Grove 1991:39). In 
contemporary political and economic parlance it is the continent's 
unstable and volatile situation that stands out. 
Although this manner of speaking does not signify a rediscovery 
of sub-Saharan Africa it merely alludes to the unstable conditions in 
the sub-continent by highlighting the colossal human tragedies that 
became pervasive in the 1990s. Much of sub-Saharan Africa is on the 
verge of imploding as civil wars ravage families and communities while 
poverty-related problems continue to escalate. The falling prices of 
the continent's exports on international markets have led to a 
downward spiral of the economies in the region. Added to this, the 
Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) of the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank continue to accentuate this 
already unacceptable situation. 
Our countries' economic crises appear most pronounced in the 
field of social welfare, poverty and in standards of living, infant 
mortality, school enrolment and life expectancy (Hassan 1997) .The 
debt burden compounds the sub-continent's socio-economic and 
political problems. By the mid-1980s the share of debts incurred by 
56 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 No. 2 JULY 2000
Ethnicity conceptualized 
Noyoo / ETHNICITY AND DEVELOPMENT 
sub-Saharan Africa was simply enormous, considering that most of 
the world's poorest economies are to be found in that sub-region. 
For example the total debt stocks for sub-Saharan Africa stood at 
US$ 55.6 billion in 1980, US$ 98.1 billion in 1985 and US$ 171.4 billion 
in 1990. In other words the sub-Saharan African debt more than 
tripled between 1980 and 1990 (Adekanye 1995:358). 
TEthnicit 
HE TERM
y 
ethnicit 
applies t
y
o 
refer 
a grou
s t 
p o 
o som 
f person 
e for 
s wh 
m o 
o accep 
f grou
t
p 
an 
identity 
d define
. 
themselves by a consciousness of common descent or origin, shared 
historical memories and connections (Chazan et al. 1988). Ethnicity 
can be broken into two components: 
• Instrumental ethnicity - this emanates from material 
deprivation, 
• Symbolic ethnicity - based on the anxiety to preserve one's 
cultural identity. 
In extreme situations the two strands of ethnicity can combine and 
serve as a motive force for state formation (Oomen 1997:21). Such a 
situation epitomizes the present conflagration of internecine wars in 
countries south of the Sahara. 
Ethnicity seems to thrive in chaotic social and political 
environments. Ethnicity is not only a contemporary phenomenon. It 
was also rife in the colonial era. In many instances African social 
interaction in urban colonial settings has been typified by ethnic 
rivalries. Here people of different ethnic groups and cultures met for 
the first time. Some of these contacts culminated in ethnic feuds which 
were - ironically - quelled by the white settlers. White settlers also 
established bodies such as the tribal elders' system to enforce law 
and order as well as manage conflicts between the natives. For 
instance in colonial Zambia on the Copperbelt there was hatred and 
fighting between different ethnic groups and killings as gangs of young 
men prowled around the mining compounds making it unsafe for 
people to appear outside their homes after dark. The hostilities in 
these colonial urban settings in turn cemented tribal stereotypes 
(Epstein 1973). In South Africa during the 1950s the tribal climate 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 NO. 2 JULY 2000 57
was not dissimilar from that in Zambia. In the African township of 
Alexandra the tribal gang comprising the Bavenda and Bapedi 
tribesmen terrorized other tribes in the area (De Ridder 1961). This 
was more or less the picture when different African tribes in colonial 
Africa met for the first time. 
Davidson (1992) perceives ethnicity as a negative force and asserts 
that it is utterly destructive to civil society, undermining a country's 
morality and flouting the rule of law. But Glickman (1995) takes a 
more optimistic view by linking it to political processes. He points 
out that, despite the persistence of ethnic conflicts in the politics of 
all African states, significant liberalization and democratization are 
possible. One reason is that the nature of ethnicity in most African 
states is instrumental rather than primordial. 
Ethnicity and development Denhance 
EVELOPMEN 
d o
T
r 
i 
impede 
s a multifacete 
d by a myria 
d proces 
d of factors 
s tha 
. Ther 
t coul 
e i 
d
s 
b 
no
e 
consensus on what should be understood by development. Neither is 
there agreement on how development can best be brought about 
nor why it has proved so difficult for most of the poor countries in the 
developing world to achieve any kind of improvement for the large 
majority of citizens (Martinussen 1997). But we usually assume a 
positive transformation of people's lives that is both quantitative and 
qualitative when engaging in debates about development. Adjectives 
that may denote development are: improvement, enhancement, 
elevation, progress; to mention a few. Ideally development should be 
a process that raises the material and living conditions of people. For 
development to take place, therefore, other kinds of improvements 
that can catalyze the developmental process must be present. These 
include improvements in education, health, access to credit facilities, 
social welfare and security. There should also be institutions that 
protect both human as well as property rights. Development also 
means improved access to life chances and opportunities such as 
employment and social security. When these life chances are blocked, 
due to the fact that people may be from one ethnic group or another, 
then development is impeded. But more importantly, development 
58 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 No. 2 JULY 2000
Noyoo/ETHNICITY AND DEVELOPMENT 
has to unfold in countries where good governance abounds, because 
fair play and social justice must be entrenched by the state, thus 
keeping ethnicity in check at the national level. 
In contexts where there is abject poverty like sub-Saharan Africa 
the state is the prime mobilizer of resources for the people. But when 
the state is hijacked by one or more ethnic groups, upward social 
mobility becomes a preserve of such groups, who use the state 
machinery for selfish ends as opposed to national development 
concerns. In this sense a predatory state emerges whereby, 
clientelism and nepotism are used as yardsticks in the acquisition of 
state contracts and tenders. Ethnicity in its negative form negates 
development. It becomes a powerful force that leads to the vices that 
in turn define the redistribution of a country's resources. Those who 
do not come from the ruling ethnic group are neglected by the state. 
In this way ethnicity emerges primarily as an agent of accumulation, 
both of wealth and political power (Bayart 1993). Indeed, the most 
striking examples of ethnic strategies are those connected with the 
resources of the modern economy, for example in gaining 
employment, education, or loans (Bayart 1993). This situation results 
in distorted regional development as certain regions are designated 
for development schemes and projects, even when such places offer 
no comparative advantages; the sole criterion being that the region 
is inhabited by the dominant ethnic group. 
Development cannot take place in a turbulent environment: one 
of the pillars of development is stability. Once fuelled, ethnic tensions 
can and do result in death. Clashes between different ethnic groups 
have undermined development pursuits in sub- Saharan Africa, again 
providing fertile ground for full-scale civil wars. The ethnic tensions 
in Nigeria in the 1960s culminating in the Biafra war remain a case in 
point. Such a situation deters direct foreign investment into sub- 
Saharan economies. In many instances potential foreign investors 
have shelved investment initiatives initially earmarked for sub- 
Saharan countries because of the unstable and volatile social and 
political conditions caused by ethnicity. Furthermore, ethnicity leads 
productive human beings into channel their energies into ethnic 
clashes instead of using them to develop their country. 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 NO. 2 JULY 2000 59
The 1990s have been typified by a resurgence of ethnic cleavages 
that now play marked roles in shaping national development efforts 
in sub-Saharan Africa. The problem of ethnicity has resurfaced with 
much vigour in the wake of the economic recessions that countries 
in the sub-continent of Africa are currently facing. Adekanye 
(1995:366) argues that the economic austerity measures being 
implemented by various governments in the sub-region, like SAPs 
have reinvigorated ethnicity. He asserts that an analysis of the 
interaction between SAPs and rising ethnic tensions seems to reaffirm 
a number of long-standing propositions from ethnic conflict studies: 
that differential economic development acts as an important catalyst 
of conflict between ethnic or regional groups within a given state. 
The coincidence of frustrating political and economic conditions with 
ethnic jealousies or of socio-economic classes with ethno-regional 
groupings, tends to intensify inter-ethnic conflicts. Indeed SAPs have 
revealed intense conflicts between different classes and ethnic groups 
for the minimal social and economic resources existing in their 
countries and access to avenues of upward social, economic and 
political mobility. 
Features of the sub-Saharan post colonial state Iadvance 
N SOME
d 
AREA 
politica
S
l 
pre-colonia 
and economi 
l Africa 
c system
n societie 
s that ha
s
d 
possesse 
generate
d
d 
cohesion amongst different assimilated tribes. Some empires had 
unified heterogeneous sub-tribes into unitary self-governing entities. 
For example, Barotseland and Buganda were polities which could have 
evolved into modern nation states if colonial rule had not arrested 
their evolution. The penetration and subsequent plunder of both 
natural and human resources of sub-Saharan territories by European 
countries led to the enfeeblement of their political and economic 
systems. Dumont (1966:36) reminds us of the ravages of slavery and 
notes that among the damaging effects of the slave trade were the 
internal wars it caused which became profitable and multiplied, 
blocking political and economic development and the evolution 
towards large empires and helping to dismantle those already in 
existence. Thus, it can be argued that the complexity of ethnic 
60 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 No. 2 JULY 20O0
Noyoo / ETHNICITY AND DEVELOPMENT 
cleavage is deeply rooted in the annexation and subjugation of the 
continent by European nations. Colonial rule thereafter attempted 
to undermine, obliterate or erode functioning pre-modem African 
states so as to make colonial domination effective. 
Towards the end of colonial rule the nationalism on the rise in sub- 
Saharan Africa was to become a necessary ingredient in the 
independence struggles that led to the emancipation of many 
countries. There are two categories of anti-colonial struggle. The 
first can be located in the eras preceding the First World War and the 
second after the Second World War. Randrianja (1996:21) points out 
that the former were often rural movements which were backwardlooking, 
drawing their inspiration mainly from the pre-colonial past. 
In cases where they adopted a political programme their aim was the 
restoration of an old order. The latter were located in the nationalist 
mass movements principally generated by educated town-dwellers. 
Nationalism, even in a Western context, is quite a novel concept. 
Many nation states emerged at the turn of the 19th century but 
European nationalism cannot be compared to that of Africa. The 
genesis of the African state was not intrinsic to an evolutionary 
process that could have provided fertile ground for the growth of 
unambiguous feelings of nationhood. The peoples of such states came 
from various, and often rival, ethnic groups. European countries 
created their African colonies without taking into account the 
homogeneity or heterogeneity of the African tribal terrain. By 
imposing artificial boundaries these colonies contradicted the concept 
of an African nation. It is for these reasons that ethnicity still remains 
a powerful negative force in Africa and still predominates in modern 
African political discourse. 
In their rush to stake a claim to African territory the Europeans 
tore asunder whole populations, tribes and communities with arbitrary 
lines drawn on the map to demarcate which possession belonged to 
whom. The new boundaries had a permanent and often destructive 
result: in South Africa, for example, the Basotho of QwaQwa in 
southern Free State and their blood relations in Lesotho suffered 
the fate of being separated into two different countries. The African 
continent abounds with similar examples where native peoples were 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 NO. 2 JULY 2000 61
not consulted about the demarcation of their lands and tribes, 
(Qwelani in the Sunday Times, 8/8/99). 
The post colonial state in Africa has always been very fragile. The 
citizens of particular countries still cling to their ethnic identities and 
do not identify with the nation state. This is because new nations in 
Africa did not arrive at a clear conceptualization of citizenship. 
Further, modern institutions were not constituted so as to provide a 
framework for the resolution of internal conflict. The hurried transfer 
of power from the colonial authorities did not create an opportunity 
for cohesive nation building. There was no prior preparation for such 
national governments to assume the roles and functions of modern 
states with institutions geared towards group solidarity and specialization 
rather than communal existence. As traditional societies were 
held together by mechanical solidarity based upon group similarity, 
with their members adhering to a rigid pattern of traditional norms 
and values, there was a need for a transformation of such societies 
into modern ones with more specialized functions and institutions, 
thereby facilitating the rise of organic solidarity and increasing social 
differentiation. 
Technological levels were also very low. Indeed most of the postcolonial 
states were artificial entities with juridical and military 
trappings but without an embedded and encapsulating political and 
administrative structure or integrated national markets (Bardhan 
1997:1388). Only few examples can be cited where such structures 
existed such as Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Post colonial Africa 
was not to turn out according to the rosy picture painted during the 
anti-colonial struggles: 
The nationalism which had originated as an anti-colonialist ideology 
extolling national unity against the foreign oppressor, was 
progressively transformed into an ideology of the newly 
independent states, most which were controlled by an oligarchy. The 
reality of the power enjoyed by the new leaders was hidden behind 
an anti-imperialist discourse, this new form being endorsed by 
nationalism from the end of the 1950s. The cycle of economic crises 
which began towards the mid-1970s, and the end of the Cold War, 
revealed the nature and function of this type of nationalism. The 
62 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 No. 2 JULY 2000
Centralization of power 
Noyoo / ETHNICITY AND DEVELOPMENT 
progressive restriction of the resources available to African states, 
the major source of wealth and social advancement and thus the 
object of elite rivalry within this group for the control of power. 
These rivalries increasingly led to ethnic mobilization and, more 
generally, to the manipulation of the cultural identities of groups 
(Randariana, 1996:20-21). 
Tloos 
HE FIRS 
e collective 
T generatio 
s of numerou 
n of sub-Sahara 
s ethnic group 
n leader 
s whos 
s preside 
e sole commo 
d ove
n
r 
purpose at the time was to dislodge colonial rule. There were no 
clearly defined ideologies apart from the need to have an indigenous 
leadership in power, with no due consideration of the consequences. 
This generation of political leaders had also tried to harmonize the 
various different ethnic groups and elevate the concept of a unitary 
state. The re-invention of the African nation state by these patriarchs 
depended on activities that stressed upon the promotion of cultural 
tolerance. The meaning of nationhood was also exhibited via slogans 
and national flags. In many sub-Saharan African states slogans by the 
ruling parties exhorted national unity and the circumvention or ending 
of ethnicity, for example in Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah, Tanzania 
under Julius Nyerere and Zambia under Kenneth Kaunda. But beyond 
the rhetoric no concrete steps were taken to reshape the attitudes 
of various ethnic groups for a proper assimilation into the nation state. 
The paradox is that the same leaders created the conditions for ethnic 
tensions by allocating opportunities in employment, education and 
other life chances to individuals from their own tribes or regions. 
Sloganeering did not lay a firm base to create an African state devoid 
of parochial social relationships and identities. 
Tals 
HE
o 
CENTRALIZATIO 
been another majo 
N o
r
f 
obstacl 
power
e 
i 
tha 
n sub-Sahara 
t has impeded
n 
developmen 
Africa has
t 
in the region as well as compounded ethnicity. In effect the 
centralization of power was the natural corollary of the one-party 
state which became synonymous with the post colonial state. The 
one-party system extolled by many dictators as a way of harmonizing 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 NO. 2 JULY 2000 63
ethnic relations in fact only heightened ethnic strife. It was best suited 
for the repression of ethnic minorities. The centralization of power 
also meant that people could not have a say over the development 
route the country was to follow and the manner in which national 
resources could be redistributed. The one-party state also created 
tangible opportunities for corruption, mal-administration, nepotism 
and political thuggery. In commenting on the performance of the oneparty 
regimes Anyang' Nyong' o (1992:3) cannot have been more 
perceptive: 
No one-party regime in Africa can boast of democratic practice nor 
of a good record on human rights. Sekou Toure's Guinea had its own 
Gulag Archipelagos; Mobutu's Zaire excelled in repression as a policy 
in maintaining a kleptocratic regime in power; Banda's Malawi has 
been the best run police state in Africa. The list can continue, and the 
records of single-party regimes will grow worse and worse no matter 
where we turn in Africa. 
Whither sub-Saharan Africa? Texplore 
HERE AR 
d whe 
E severa 
n confrontin 
l contentiou 
g problem 
s issue 
s create 
s tha 
d by
t nee 
ethnicity 
d to
. 
b 
Firstly 
e re-
, 
the time has come for Africans candidly to revisit the authenticity of 
post colonial boundaries. The clause in the Organization of African 
Unity charter which stipulates that boundaries created by colonialists 
be respected, stemmed in part from questionable motives. Some of 
the post colonial leaders who had entrenched this clause were tyrants 
or military dictators who merely sought to emasculate the spirit of 
regional autonomy. 
In retrospect it can be noted that the quest for regional autonomy 
had surfaced after the post colonial state could not offer a lucid formula 
towards the realization of an African nationhood. One route that could 
be taken is the redefining of national boundaries in the light of 
contested areas. For instance it is clear that Sudan is made up of two 
distinct, and separate entities in terms of religion, physical landscape 
and culture. Regional self-government could be a viable alternative 
given the fact the so-called unitary state of Sudan has been effective 
64 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 No. 2 JULY 2000
Noyoo/ETHNICITY AND DEVELOPMENT 
only in creating conditions for social dislocation. The central 
government could guarantee regional autonomy in matters of local 
concern, whilst the centre could oversee the security of the country. 
As regards areas which are not dominated by people of a particular 
ethnic group such as urban conurbations or those dominated by 
migrant workers, there would be no problem if the government 
clearly articulates a national agenda that celebrates ethnic diversity 
as opposed to ethnic acrimony. A lucid national ideology that 
harmonises different ethnic groups would be profound as different 
groups would not see ethnicity as a viable recourse vis-a-vis 
opportunities and life chances. 
The question of regional autonomy must be soberly examined if 
any headway in development is going to be made in sub-Saharan 
Africa. Regional autonomy or federalism, whatever it may be called, 
could nip problems of ethnicity, corruption and nepotism in the bud. 
This type of government would also enhance-popular participation in 
development as ordinary community members would add their voices 
to the decisions taken by their leaders or even take decisions which 
their leaders would be obliged to respect. Policies would be more 
responsive to local needs as proper needs assessments would be 
conducted by the regional government as opposed to the central 
government. This would unlock the creativity and zeal of citizens of 
sub-Saharan countries, which has been deliberately thwarted in the 
post colonial state. The over centralized post colonial state in Africa 
has been a total failure. 
Secondly, it is important, to bear in mind that politicians have been 
using the ethnic card for political expedience. One redeeming aspect 
in this whole episode of sub-Saharan ethnic rivalries could be the 
creation of stable institutions that at least guarantee responsive 
leadership. Ordinary Africans have allowed themselves to be ruled 
by politicians with questionable credentials whilst those with skills 
have left the continent for greener pastures in Europe or America. 
Lastly, Africans have to face their problems squarely and 
acknowledge their mistakes. It is ludicrous always to blame some 
hidden enemy when in actual fact most of the tribulations of sub- 
Saharan Africa are self-inflicted. It is also high time that Africans begin 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 15 NO. 2 JULY 2000 65
to discard unprogressive traditions. This is because Africa is already 
part of the global village. People can ill afford to continue living as if 
they are still in pre-industrial times. 
Conclusion Denablin 
EVELOPMEN 
g environment 
T is fostered 
. This
, 
shoul 
amon 
d ideall 
g othe 
y engende 
r things 
r peac 
, by
e an 
an
d 
stability and guarantee the security of people and the optimal 
utilization of both human and natural resources. There are many 
reasons that have been put forward to explain sub-Sahara's economic 
malaise. The author had briefly touched on some of them in the early 
part of the discussion. The main argument in this paper was that 
ethnicity's ability to throw the development agenda of sub-Saharan 
countries into disarray has been downplayed or even glossed over. 
Both politicians and academics choose to deal with the consequences 
of ethnicity and not with the root cause itself. Development will 
remain a pipedream if the problem of ethnicity is not given adequate 
attention by all who envisage the re-awakening of the sub-continent 
of Africa. Some possible options were proffered by the author. There 
are many other strategies that could be employed to stem ethnicity, 
but there has to be a clear political will to do so from sub-Saharan 
governments. Only then can these countries begin to engage in the 
processes of development without any ulterior motives. 
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