ABSTRACT
Democratic transitions in Africa in the early 1990s surprised many donors, and coincided with the peak of the region’s aid dependence. With democracy now seemingly in crisis around the world, the issue of Western aid in sub-Saharan Africa is once again pertinent. This chapter looks at the evolving nature of donor support to the continent, focusing on the development of political conditionality, the impact of general economic assistance, and the decline of Western leverage in recent decades. We argue that only democracy assistance has had an unambiguously positive impact on democracy, while development assistance frequently reinforces the political status quo. Showing that Western political conditionality has been considerably loosened in recent years, we argue that while pragmatism and flexibility are necessary, donors must not abandon support for democracy altogether. Donors and policymakers should keep working to understand how financial assistance can help or hinder democratic consolidation in a changing global context.
