According to political scientist Achille Mbembe, the usual diagnosis of Africa is flawed: democracy cannot be in crisis where it has never truly taken root. Behind the facade of multiparty systems lies a darker reality: the survival of an authoritarian model inherited from colonization.

1. The lure of "administrative multipartyism"

Since the 1990s, most African states have adopted the principles of a market economy and political pluralism. However, Mbembe argues that this is merely a superficial change .

1. The illusion: The transition to multiparty politics has not established the rule of law.
2. The reality: The structures of the single party have simply been disguised. We have moved from blatant authoritarianism to an "administrative multi-party system" that maintains the same dynamics of control.
3. The exceptions: Only a few countries (South Africa, Botswana, Seychelles, Cape Verde, and to a lesser extent Senegal or Ghana) display the minimal features of a real democracy.

2. From colonization to "self-colonization"

Mbembe's analysis traces power back to its roots: the colonial system. This system was based on the self-hatred instilled in the colonized. Instead of breaking with this poison, postcolonial elites appropriated it to establish a process of self-colonization . Leaders do not treat their people as citizens, but as occupied subjects. What is in crisis today, therefore, is not democracy, but the effectiveness of this predatory model.

3. The triple failure of African states

This governance system is incapable of addressing the continent's three major challenges:

1. Production crisis: Inability to create wealth to satisfy basic needs.
2. Redistribution crisis: Resource hoarding by a predatory elite at the expense of the masses.
3. Crisis of representation: An abysmal gap now separates the people from the political elites who are not accountable to them.

4. Politics as a "zero-sum game"

The current model is based on an extractive economy , which destroys the environment and resembles a war economy. In this context:

1. Politics becomes a struggle for control of predation (the plundering of resources) rather than production.
2. It's a brutal fight: the winner takes everything, the loser ends up in prison or exile.
3. This dynamic is part of a global movement of decline in solidarity, giving way to brute force.

5. Hope: collective intelligence against force

Faced with this bleak picture, Mbembe identifies a major ideological struggle between two camps:

1. The neo-sovereignists: They believe solely in the balance of power and military might.
2. Social coalitions: A movement led by women, young people, intellectuals and activists.

For Mbembe, the challenge is to support these civil societies that are trying to invent new ways of living together, betting on collective intelligence rather than brutality.

Reading note: Achille Mbembe emphasizes that Africa's salvation will not come from a superficial reform of current institutions, but from a profound break with the colonial legacy of predation.