Globalization and Africa's Regional and Local Responses

As a response to globalization, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is indicative of a new awareness among African leaders that they must respond in ways that create empowering opportunities for African societies to benefit from, rather than be victims of, globalization. Following a review of Africa's responses to previous epochs of globalization, we examine the relevance of leadership given the dismal record of past development efforts and given the hard choices pressed upon African societies by the dynamics of current globalization. We assert that the NEPAD can be transformative if it does not limit its efforts to institutional restructuring and governance but, in addition, becomes a coda for effective leadership. Finally, we highlight the limits and frustrations faced by post-apartheid South Africa—where the state has fully embraced global economic imperatives but must also confront the socioeconomic needs of its apartheid-scarred constituencies, as evident from local resistances.