Abstract
This chapter examines the relationship between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the state in Africa. The central argument of the chapter is that development-oriented NGOs are filling the needs gap that has been created as the result of the failure or neglect of African states to adequately provide basic services for the majority of their citizens. The failure is caused by three major sets of factors: (1) the structural adjustment programs that were imposed by the Bretton Woods institutions—International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; (2) the strangulating effects of huge external debts; and (3) pervasive corruption in the political economies of African states. Similarly, the chapter argues that, like the state in Africa, the “market” has also failed to provide for the basic needs of the majority of the citizens in these African states. In turn, this has led to the proliferation of development-oriented NGOs on the continent. Importantly, the chapter asserts that state-NGO relations in Africa are shaped by broader economic, political and social factors mediated by the compatibility of development objectives.
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Makoba, J.W. (2018). Non-Governmental Organizations and the African State. In: Kieh, Jr., G. (eds) Contemporary Issues in African Society. African Histories and Modernities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49772-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49772-3_2
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