Since independence, Africa has been the subject of many analyses. Some have attributed its difficulties to a lack of financial resources. Others have highlighted geographical constraints, the colonial legacy or limited industrialisation. Yet a closer examination of development trajectories worldwide shows that no country has achieved lasting development without strong, credible and resilient institutions.
States did not initially develop because they were wealthy. They became wealthy because they built institutions capable of organising society, protecting public goods, ensuring political stability, maintaining continuity in public action and creating the trust essential for investment. Africa’s central challenge is therefore not merely economic; it is fundamentally institutional.
An institution is a set of rules, procedures, values, oversight mechanisms and practices that organise a society’s functioning over time. A strong institution continues to operate when leaders change. A weak institution depends primarily on the individuals who lead it. That is the essential distinction.
Institutional weaknesses include the excessive personalisation of power, an inadequate culture of accountability, fragile public administrations, poor institutional coordination and weak oversight systems.
These weaknesses produce unstable public policies, poor public services and reduced economic attractiveness. People experience the consequences directly: high unemployment, persistent poverty, declining public trust and the loss of talent.
Building strong institutions requires professionalising public administration, digitalising public action, strengthening oversight, developing a culture of evaluation, reinforcing decentralisation and investing in human capital.
Africa must build a model founded on the primacy of the public interest, meritocracy, transparency, accountability, innovation, citizen participation, digital sovereignty and recognition of African knowledge.
History teaches a consistent lesson: nations prosper when their institutions are stronger than their leaders, more enduring than crises and more respected than private interests. This is where the real work of African development begins.
Dakar, 22 June 2026.