The Politics of Patronage in Africa

"The Politics of Patronage in Africa is a systematic study of the political constraints on the efforts made there to move from a state-driven to a private enterprise based form of development. In a series of clearly outlined and well-written chapters, the author examines, successively, the political economy of Africa's parastatals, the politics of privatization, the politics of private African capital, and relations between African governments and foreign businesses. He concludes with a sobering chapter on the politics of African state economic governance." Patrick Chabal, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

"... a highly informative, clearly written and excellently argued study of what actually happens in African countries once the 'donors' (a remarkable word which usually means 'creditors') move in, and along with demands for civil service retrenchments and social service cutbacks, demand the privatisation of state owned industry. The particular merit of his work is that it is offered in a very low key, yet highly analytical fashion which will provide enormous food for thought for both radical and conservative schools. Furthermore, and perhaps key to the entire project, is that Tangri's examination of privatisation, rather than being framed by a policy-driven economism, is based firmly upon a deep understanding of African politics." Roger Southall, JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN STUDIES

"A teachable general survey of the influence of political factors on economic performance throughout sub-Saharan Africa with case studies drawn from Ghana, Zambia and Uganda. The manuscript is a masterful comparative survey of the difficulties in developing a private enterprise economy. It is unusual in taking a consistently political approach to explaining the problems of African business, involving antagonistic stances of politicians, the state, international financial institutions and foreign investment. - Dartmouth College" Nelson Kasfir, Dartmouth College

"... as a review of what has happened to state assets in Africa, it would be hard to beat…" Jeffrey Herbst, Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University