Togo: Thorny transitions and misguided aid at the roots of economic misery

Dirk Kohnert

EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, 2011, 179-210

Abstract: The parliamentary elections of October 2007, the first free Togolese elections since decades, were meant to correct at least partially the rigged presidential elections of 2005. Western donors considered it as a litmus test of despotic African regimes’ propensity to change towards democratization and economic prosperity. They took Togo as model to test their approach of political conditionality of aid, which had been emphasised also as corner stone of the joint EU-Africa strategy. Empirical findings on the linkage between democratization and economic performance are challenged in this paper because of its basic data deficiencies. It is open to question, whether Togo’s expected economic consolidation and growth will be due to democratization of its institutions or to the improved external environment, notably the growing competition between global players for African natural resources.

Keywords: Democratization; Fragile states; Togo; West Africa; Development Aid; Transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F35 F5 O17 O55 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:espost:118654

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