The economy is integral to culture. Even if human beings do not live by bread alone, the search for bread in Africa takes an eternity. As in the Stone Age human beings spent almost all their time seeking food, the struggle to survive consumes the majority of the population. People are poor, and poverty shapes responses to politics, leisure, interpersonal relations, and overall habits and worldview. Poverty has been on the increase since the mid-twentieth century, reflecting worsening economic and political conditions. It influences the political culture, from attitudes about corruption to the abuse of power. To the majority of Africans, the purpose of government is to provide for its people while the purpose of life is to survive and live well. They regard politics not just about distribution of power among the leading representatives of ethnic groups, but primarily about solving problems of underdevelopment. Power has failed them, development has eluded them. What can explain such a double tragedy? Power and development are linked in various ways. This chapter shows the linkage. In the process, the emerging and established patterns are also examined or detailed, showing how history and the behavior of the state and political actors shape events and affect Africans in negative ways. When Africans talk about development, what they seek is not abstract: they want a higher standard of living. Economic changes are preferred to political ones, and there are cases when people can accept authoritarian rule if it brings the desired economic benefits and progress. Benefits and progress are not defined along traditional lines—contacts with the West have broadened the list to include all objects associated with modernity. Medicine, automobiles, good roads, access to books and the Internet, and others are now part of what a new generation of Africans want. These pursuits suggest a desire for change and even a growing addiction to materialism among the elite.

Underdevelopment

Many Africans believe that they are not doing well, but that resources are not lacking for them to have jobs, access to land, nutritious food, and other necessities of life. In other words, many tend to believe that they are poor because their governments do not care about them.