Overview
This report summarizes and analyzes key articles from the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) journal, focusing on Official Development Assistance (ODA) and regime change (coups and political transitions) in Africa.
1. ODA and Aid Dependency Critique
Western-centric ODA and neoliberal development aid paradigms impede the formation of self-sustaining economic structures in African countries, deepening external debt and structural dependency.
Key findings: Conditioned loans and structural adjustment programs weaken local public sector capacity. ODA indirectly facilitates multinational capital's resource access and sustains authoritarian power structures.
2. Regime Change and Military Coups in the Sahel and West Africa
The political economy behind military coups and regime changes in the Sahel region — Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger — reveals deep structural causes beyond simple democratic setbacks.
The failure of Western security and development support, combined with popular anger over deteriorating livelihoods, has been the primary driver of regime change. These transitions reflect demands for resource sovereignty and anti-imperialist political restructuring.