The state in Africa and the African state

It is a commonplace to say that the state has generally failed in post-colonial Africa, or at least to speak of endemic state fragility. Some African states are said to be less fragile than others – Ghana is said to be less fragile than the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some states are also sometimes said to be more ‘independent' than others, at least formally so: former British colonies generally have fewer formal political and economic ties to their former colonial power than do former French colonies. The latter's abiding ties to their former colonial power may in turn give the impression of greater political stability in Francophone states: contrast Senegal and Nigeria. By and large, however, differences of these kinds are a matter of degree. Even if some states are more and others are less fragile, in general, statehood has not been a success story in Africa. In this chapter, I consider the implications of this reality for the way we think about the state.