Fomin, E. S. D.

Forje, John W.

Central Africa.

Crises, reform and reconstruction.

Dakar

2005

2869781512

9782869781511

60527

This timely book addresses development problems and prospects in Central Africa. Drawing from individual case studies, global debates and experiences, the contributors provide a rich repertoire of reflections and insights on economic integration and activities, and on the internal and external politics of the different states in the subregion. Strikingly, all the studies point to the fact that Central African states, although possessing tremendous natural and human resources and peopled by communities thirsty for development, have for a long time remained under the spell and chaos of bad governments and bad economic policies and practices. A consequence has been endemic poverty and misery for all but an elite few. Informed both by their empirical findings and experiences as social actors, the authors of this important volume highlight not only the failure of democracy to take root in the subregion, but also how corruption, lack of transparency and accountability in governance and business have detrimentally become fashionable, making the prospects of reform an ever more extravagant dream.

Introduction
E.S.D. Fomin and John W. Forje

Section I: Nation Building and Regional Integration: Problems and Prospects

Regional Economic Blocs in Central Africa: What Went Right and What Went Wrong?
Arsene Honore Gideon Nkama

The Paucity and Irregularity of Anglophone Newspapersdin Cameroon
Victor Cheo and Henry Muluh

The Management of Ethnic Diversity in Cameroon: The Case of the Coastal Areas
Emmanuel Yenshu Vubo

Effects of the Foreign Debt Burden on Saving Ratios in the CEMAC Zone
George Ndoh Mbanga

The NEPAD Initiative: A Basis for Fostering Economic Recovery in the CEMAC Zone
Ntangsi Max Memfih

Checking Rebels or Chasing Fortunes: Foreign States′ Elites and the DR Congo Conflict (1997–2002)
Oladiran W. Bello

The Youth and Environmental Education in Cameroon: A Study of Secondary School-based Environmental Clubs
Andrew Wujung Vukenkeng

From Village to National and Global Art: Whose Art?
Walter Nkwi

Section II : The Weird Wind of Democratisation and Governance

Traumas, Memories and ′Modern′ Politics in Central Africa
E. S. D. Fomin

Tribulations of a Democratic Transition: The Cameroonian Experience
Valentine Ameli Tabi

Protection against Human Rights Abuses in the Central Africa Sub-Region: The Case of Children
Margaret Ayike

The Vicissitudes of Cameroon Civil Society in the 1990s: What Lessons for the Central African Region?
Susanna Yene Awasom

Rethinking Political Will and Empowerment as Missing Dimensions in Post-Conflict Reform and Reconstruction in the Central African Sub-Region
John W. Forje

Conflict and Violence in Central Africa: The Political Economy Behind Internal and External Networks in Fomenting War in the Sub-Region
Ian Taylor