SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The chapter explores the paths towards institutional foundations for inclusive development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). After introducing institutional configurations as a system of multiple equilibria, it presents a critical review of the thesis proposed by Acemoglu and Robinson (2012), in which the concepts of extractive versus inclusive economic and political institutions are used to account for the differences in poverty and prosperity among nations. In contrast with their thesis, the chapter discusses the concept of endogenous institutions and institutional changes, advanced by Greif (2006) and Aoki (2001, 2007) in their comparative institutional analyses, as a basis for laying institutional foundations for inclusive development on a self-sustainable basis. The chapter next examines how institutional configurations have been shaped in SSA under influences of both domestic and external conditions, which has given rise to an institutional trap that is detrimental to inclusive development through a loop of negative feedbacks in public–private interfaces. To overcome this, we call for a strong coalition between governments and stakeholders, as a social contract embedded in the taxation–public goods provision nexus.