Exploring Africa’s democratic transitions and economic development policy: South African and Nigerian experiences

Abstract

This paper contends that the new “Africa Rising Narrative” will net lead to the majority of African citizens attaining prosperity under the current democratic transition. this paper argues that Africa lacks appropriate Pan-Africanist theorization for the African development agenda if the continent were to attain socio-economic prosperity. South African and Nigerian democratic transitions and economic development policy experiences in the late 1990s and 2000 affirm the observation of this paper. to this extent, this paper asserts that the notion that Africa is the future centre of commerce and development is not founded on appropriate theorization of the relationship between democratization and economic policy.