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https://theconversation.com/south-africa-and-pakistan-countries-brought-to-their-knees-by-elite-capture-and-economic-paralysis-265427>
"In the ongoing quest to understand South Africa’s political and economic
stagnation, it may be helpful to look at other postcolonial states that have
travelled further along the path of independence. This may help clarify the
stagnation question that citizens, politicians and economists are grappling
with.
Much of the analysis of postcolonial Africa and Asia has identified poor
leadership, authoritarianism and misguided economic policies as determinants of
stagnation. These factors do matter. But they do not fully explain why some new
independent states collapsed into dysfunction while others achieved growth. The
deeper question is how institutions are built, sustained or destroyed.
South Africa’s stagnation is not the complete absence of growth or democracy,
but the inability to convert political freedom and economic potential into
sustainable and inclusive growth manifesting in quality of life for the
majority.
The World Bank calls this an incomplete transition. In its 30 years of
democracy review report, the South African Presidency concluded that the
economy was performing below its full potential, unemployment was high, poverty
levels were persistent in pockets of broader society and inequality levels were
stubbornly high and racially biased.
As we read in the World Bank’s
Africa’s Pulse report, these challenges
continue to trouble most of the countries on the continent.
I have encountered this in my economic governance capacity building work in
government and through my affiliations with local and Asian universities. There
is common concern about deteriorating statecraft and the weakening of
institutions.
In that connection, this essay is framed as a comparative reflection. It
situates Pakistan alongside Ghana, Malaysia and Singapore, then turns to former
Pakistani civil servant and now academic Ishrat Husain’s book, Governing the
Ungovernable. It is a detailed case study of institutional decline.
A former governor of the central bank of Pakistan and long-time government
advisor on public sector reform, Husain offers an authoritative framework
against which we can understand the performance of other post-colonial states.
I use this framework to mirror South Africa, showing how elite capture,
institutional weakness and cycles of reversal explain its present stagnation.
I chose Pakistan because its story of “ungovernable” institutions is similar to
that of South Africa, compared to Singapore, whose success story is determined
by the performance of its institutions."
Valuable lessons for other countries as well.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
