Africa's Crisis of State-Building

As Adebayo Adedeji (1999) notes, Africa continues to be devoured by various types of conflicts. The continent now accounts for more war-related deaths than the rest of the world combined (Human Security Report 2005). In at least one African country, the conflicts have led to genocide. In others they have led to state collapse, gross human rights violations, including gruesome mutilations of large numbers of people. They have also produced millions of refugees and unknown numbers of internally displaced people. Moreover, the conflicts have caused severe economic dislocation and disruption in the provision of public services, contributing to economic crisis and grinding poverty in many countries. A typical civil war that lasts seven years is estimated to lead to a 15 percent decline in income and approximately 30 percent rise in the incidence of absolute poverty (Collier et al. 2003). The losses in human capital due to the direct and indirect effects of the conflicts are difficult to estimate but they are certain to be high. There are also growing indications that the conflicts are contributing to the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in various ways.