The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence [Paperback]

Few writers could do justice to the mammoth task of covering 50 years of the turbulent history of an entire continent in a single volume, but Meredith achieves just that and with considerable power and finesse. The task necessitates skipping between countries and back and forth in time but Meredith manages very successfully to bridge the potential confusion this could have created with themes that run through the post-colonial history of most of the states of Africa. Though there are variations to the theme, most African countries passed from the euphoria and hope of early independence to domination by dictators who justified their single party policies as the only answer to potential tribal conflict. Dictatorships caused unrest, which often lead to coup attempts with the coup leaders promising an end to repression and corruption, but soon falling into the same patterns as their predecessors.

The book is a litany of incompetent government, of insatiable greed and exploitation on the part of leaders and their cronies, of unbelievable power lust and the resulting repression, of megalomaniac leaders with delusions of grandeur, of ludicrous levels of corruption and of the suffering of millions of ordinary people. Meredith's coverage is comprehensive and his style is easy to read. The inclusion of fascinating details about particular events or the personal lives of particular leaders brings the narrative to life. The tales he has to tell are gripping (though horrific) and you will fly through the nearly 700 pages.

Meredith skillfully establishes the historical similarities between almost all African countries. His explanations show only too well how poor leadership and economic management has led to the continent becoming the most desperately poor and underdeveloped region on earth. He leaves it to others, however, to attempt to explain why it is that almost all African countries should have taken such similar and devastatingly violent historical trajectories and why the necessary leadership to break the cycle has not been forthcoming.

Martin Meredith has written en excellent and thoughtful account of Africa's post-independence years. The book is not only well-researched but shows a familiarity with the Continent that is rare among Western commentators on Africa.

It is a stark, panoramic and forensic examination of the Continent. No country is left out. Mr Meredith captures the sense of optimism felt by many Africans at independence by painting real-life portraits of independence leaders like Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Kwame Nkumah of Ghana and Senghor of Senegal. He brings Africa's Big Men into sharp relief. We see Nkrumah's charisma, Nyerere's singled-mindedness, Idi-Amin's savagery, Senghor's diplomacy, Lumuma's intransigience, Awolowo's tribalism and Bokassa's megalomania.

The book chronicles post-colonial Africa as a Cold War playground between the West and The Soviet Union. In Angola, Zaire and Mozambique, Western support for unsavoury leaders was seen as necessary to stop the spread of Communism. This had devastating consequences for the Continent.

On page after page the author documents Africa's woes, backed up with World Bank data: economic decline, gross governmental incompetence, patronage, destruction of civil society, neglect for the rule of law. And all for what?, he asks. So that the elite can buy luxury homes in the South of France and the send their children to Western universities. How true.

What I appreciated most about the book was Mr Meredith's remarkable insight into "African" nature. He does not diminish the African attachment to the tribe as many European writers have done in the past. He observes accurately that tribal loyalty supercedes loyalty to the newly created African nation-states. He does not write out of pity but from genuine empathy with the ordinary African. This style contrasts sharply with other Western writers who seek to impose their arm-chair liberalism on the reader.

He keenly observes that the legacy of colonial rule was not to develop the conquered peoples but to extract the wealth of the country for the benefit of its rulers. It was a legacy that Africa's post-colonial leaders inherited. Mr Meredith concludes that the root cause of Africa's malaise is not lack of resources but a crisis of leadership. It is a view that I, as an African (a Nigerian), concur with.

Forget all you think you know about Africa and read this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Five stars for this plain, urgent, and very comprehensive account of Africa since the colonial powers packed up and left, or were booted out. And as far as I know, this is the only book which covers all of Africa in the last 50 years. But I think readers should be issued with a very strong warning. You have to ask yourselves if you have a strong stomach. Because make no mistake, this is a horror story, and it has left me, after all the Geldoff-inspired euphoria, after the recent debt-cancellations, after all those good words from Blair and Brown, close to despair. Let me give you some examples chosen at random. From page 173 : "President Omar Bongo of Gabon... ordered a new palace for himself with sliding walls and doors, rotating rooms and a private nightclub, costing well over $200 million". From page 273: "The disruption caused by the `villagisation' programme nearly led to catastrophe (in Tanzania). Food production fell drastically, raising the spectre of widespread famine.... Drought compounded the problem." From page 368: "By the mid-1980s most Africans were as poor or poorer than they had been at the time of independence." From page 460: "Over a ten-year period (in Algeria) more than 100,000 people died. Nor was there any end in sight. The violence seemed to suit both sides - the military and the Islamist rebels."
The story of each African country seems to be the same. There is the early promise of independence, the charismatic new leader (it could be Nkrumah or Kenyatta or even Mugabe, of whom Ian Smith, the leader of white Rhodesia, said : "He behaved like a balanced, civilised westerner, the antithesis of the communist gangster I had expected"). There follows corruption and megalomania - palaces built, roads to nowhere commissioned, Swiss bank accounts opened, the president's tribal associates given all the top jobs. The president bans all political parties except his own, because multi-party democracy is not the African way and just plays into the hands of unscrupulous tribal leaders (but of course it is the President himself - and in Africa there has never yet been a herself - who's the biggest player of tribal politics). Then comes twenty - sometimes thirty - years of tyranny, with all political opponents jailed and tortured, and the country bankrupted. Then comes the military coup with the idealistic young military leader declaring a Council of National Salvation and a raft of anti-corruption laws. A few years later, the same young military leader (could be Samuel K Doe of Liberia, could be Yoweri Museweni of Uganda) has turned into a clone of the tyrant he deposed.
Slavery in Africa was followed by colonialism, and once that was ended, by Cold War proxy wars, and once they were over, by Aids. You would think that - plus the endemic disease and drought of course - was enough. But no, Africa suffers from another disease just as debilitating - the infestation of their own "vampire-like" ruling classes. By the end of Martin Meredith's book the horrors were not diminishing. We had had the Rwandan genocide, the children's armies of Liberia (ten year old kids high on cocaine shooting each other with Armalites) and the Lord's Resistance cult in Uganda. Still it goes on. "When Abdou Diouf of Senegal accepted defeat in an election in March 2000 he was only the fourth president to do so in four decades." And again: "The World bank estimates that 40% of Africa's private wealth is held offshore.".
The author leaves no room for any false optimism. I salute every aid agency and every politician willing to even try to improve the dire situation. But if they read this book they will be wondering where to begin.