Ekaette Ikpe

Challenging the discourse on fragile states

The paper reviews the current discourse on state fragility and examines the definitional basis for this label. It puts forward a model for defining state fragility that is based on the states capacity, which is its capability to protect itself, deliver services and manage economic risks and the states resilience, which has to do with the management of social relations and political risks. This model also takes into account both middle-income and low-income countries. The nature and extent of state fragility here is a function of the relationship between state capacity and resilience. The relationship between state fragility and development and security outcomes is addressed with reference to the impact of initial conditions. The paper concludes by examining the resulting aid allocation on the basis of the existing state fragility discourse and puts forward an alternative aid allocation structure based on the proposed model for state fragility, and finds significant differences to the existing arrangement.

The development planning era and developmental statehood: the pursuit of structural transformation in Nigeria

This paper locates the development planning era within the discourse on developmental statehood, with reference to Nigeria. It considers the states use of development planning to facilitate resource transfers between economic sectors for the purpose of socio-economic transformation. The paper draws on the analytical framework of the enhanced developmental state paradigm (EDSP), which derives from the empirical experiences of East Asian developmental states and classical development economic concepts. It finds that although the development planning era was very significant for attempts at structural change, attendant processes and outcomes were undermined by changes in intellectual and policy debates on global development.

The Enduring Relevance of the Developmental State Paradigm Across Space and Time: Lessons for Africa on Structural Transformation and Agriculture in Oil-Rich Contexts:

Emerging economies have recently faced commodity price declines that reinforce the instability of natural resources as a basis for socio-economic transformation. This has re-energised arguments for industrialisation as necessary for such transitions. Drawing upon classical development economics theory, this paper offers a deployment of an enhanced developmental state paradigm (DSP) that highlights the roles of agriculture and mineral resources in the pursuit of industrial progress. This application of the DSP has its basis in narratives on Asian developmental states, with a focus on mineral resource endowment. Employed with reference to Africa’s key emerging economy and net petroleum exporter, Nigeria, the DSP shows how the state, influenced by significant milieus, has enabled linkages between oil and agriculture that can drive industrial transformation. The paper finds that linkages between oil and agriculture are well established; however, economic, social and political influences on the state have engendered agriculture’s limited onward contribution to structural change.