Dominant parties and the private sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: a typology of approaches

The liberalisation of African economies under structural adjustment has altered the economic conditions for political predominance in the continent’s party systems. Dominant parties have often been able to compensate for the loss of state patronage by forging ties with the private sector, through networks with domestic capitalists or through business ventures directly owned by the party. However, the ways in which they have done so vary widely. This article argues that the approach chosen by a particular party—whether in the form of a pact with the economic elite, the provision of a platform for private-sector interests, an informalisation of political and economic networks around senior leaders, or the outright domination of the business sector—depends primarily on the relative strength of the private economy, and on the party’s own degree of institutionalisation. The typology of dominant-party strategies toward the private sector is illustrated by the different approaches chosen by the ANC in South Africa, the EPRDF in Ethiopia, the CDP in Burkina Faso, and KANU in Kenya.