Economic success cannot be achieved without political reforms. Political reforms cannot be achieved under a one-party system. So a multiparty system should be encouraged. By the mid-1980s most African states were as poor or poorer than they had been at the time of independence and this was because our leaders after independence embarked on economic reforms under a semi or full dictatorship environment. They made the IMF and the World Bank their best friends after failing to raise funds locally. Senegal in 1979 became the first African state to obtain a structural adjustment loan from the World Bank. Between the 1980s and 1990s, Africa obtained more than $200b in foreign aid but it all amounted to nothing because of the poor political landscape across the continent. The state was and still is the motor of economic development which needs to change. Economic reforms alone would not solve the crisis in Africa. Africa needs better governments which are not possible without checks and balances. Checks and balances can mainly come from a political opposition in form of multi-parties or political liberalization. Political reforms backed by market-oriented development strategies in place of government intervention can lead to economic success. Graduates should create their own jobs instead of looking at the government as the job provider. We should move from consumption to investment. Kimironko
