This essay discusses the ability of the governments in developing countries to promote and manage economic development. In essence, the essay discusses the fact that the governments of developing economies understand the problems they face and have a set of priorities, and that the heads of government may have personnel educated and trained abroad who are familiar with recent economic thinking, plus the possibility of support from international institutions. However, they may lack the resources to implement policy, elements of the economy may be outside their control, they may have corrupt bureaucracies, may lack competence at different levels of government and may set anti-developmental priorities. In addition, the problems they face in managing their economic development may be the result of external factors beyond their control, and the narrow base of the economy may make them very susceptible to external shocks. In addition, policies once implemented may face conditions, either internal or external, which cause them to fail. In general, the essay considers that East Asian economies supply examples of competent economic management, while sub-Saharan Africa has a record of failed economic management.

Africa has heard calls for democracy for many decades, both from internal and external sources, and due to external and internal factors (Darga, 1997), however, especially in this climate, where nations go to war in the name of fighting for democratization, it is important to realise that governance and democracy are not the same thing. Governance, i.e., governing the people in a responsible manner which leads to equal economic prosperity for all inhabitants, is not the same as democracy, which can be defined, in its simplest terms, as “rule by the people”, and these two ideas have very different practical applications and outcomes, although they are interrelated, and both have emphases which can be political or economical. The World Bank defines governance as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development” and it is under the terms of this definition that the present essay shall move forwards, even though this definition does not specify that democracy is a pre-requisite for governance.

As can be seen from any analyses of the present state of the economies of these two continents, Africa and East Asia are at very different developmental stages, in terms of social, economic and also political development, perhaps because, in Africa (for example, Zimbabwe), leaders have often failed to deliver on their promises for enhanced economic performance, with changes of regimes also failing to improve economic or social conditions; on the other hand, in East Asia, for example, in Japan, which c