Across Africa, leaders come and go. Elections bring new faces, fresh slogans, and promises of renewal. Yet beneath the campaigns and ceremonies lies the true measure of whether a nation rises or falters: the strength of its institutions.
When institutions are weak, politics becomes personal. Power concentrates in individuals rather than systems. Courts bend under pressure. Parliaments become rubber stamps. Civil services run on patronage instead of principle. In such an environment, strongmen thrive. Not because they are visionary, but because the absence of guardrails leaves room for one person to dominate.
We have seen this pattern repeat. Leaders who begin with popular support erode the very checks and balances that should outlast them. Constitutions are amended to extend terms. Oversight bodies are hollowed out. Dissent is silenced. In the short term, this may resemble control, even stability. Over time it creates fragility. When such leaders eventually depart, whether suddenly or by design, they leave behind hollow institutions unable to sustain progress.
By contrast, strong institutions do not fear strong leaders. They shape them. They turn ambition into service. Institutions safeguard continuity when governments change and enforce accountability when leaders fail. They protect the rule of law, give legitimacy to state action, and anchor citizens’ trust.
Across the continent, we have seen the power of institutions at work. Where electoral commissions earn public confidence, peaceful transitions follow. Where courts resist political pressure, citizens begin to believe in justice. Where parliaments legislate independently, laws reflect the people’s will rather than the will of one person. These moments remind us that Africa does not lack the capacity to build lasting systems. What is missing is the political will to prioritise institutions over personalities.
The temptation is clear. Leaders often see institutions as barriers to decisive control. Yet institutions are not barriers. They are bridges. They extend leadership beyond one term, one administration, one lifetime. They create trust that makes citizens partners in governance. They reassure investors and innovators that the rules will not shift with every election cycle.
Africa’s development challenge is not only about resources or talent. It is about predictability. Strong institutions provide the certainty that policies will outlive politics, that contracts will be honoured, that justice is not for sale. They form the foundation on which economies grow and societies endure.
This is not only an African truth. Venezuela offers a stark global warning. Once among the wealthiest nations in Latin America, blessed with vast oil reserves, it looked unshakable. Yet over decades, institutions were steadily dismantled. Courts became instruments of the executive. Electoral bodies lost credibility. Independent voices were suppressed. For a time, oil revenues masked the decay. When prices collapsed, the absence of resilient institutions produced economic ruin and political repression, triggering one of the largest refugee crises in modern history. Venezuela proves that even immense wealth cannot compensate for weak institutions. Without them, collapse is inevitable.
So how do we build stronger institutions?
First, we must protect the independence of the judiciary, electoral commissions, and oversight agencies. They cannot fulfil their role if they are captured by politics.
Second, we must invest in professional, merit-based civil services. Governments that run on patronage will never be efficient or credible.
Third, we must embrace accountability not as an external demand but as an African necessity. Citizens deserve to know how resources are used, how decisions are made, and how promises are kept. Transparency is not charity. It is sovereignty.
Finally, we must remember that institutions are not abstract. They are made by people, defended by citizens, and respected by leaders. They succeed when leaders resist shortcuts and when citizens insist on consistency. Regional frameworks, from the African Peer Review Mechanism to continental courts, can reinforce this work. They are not perfect, but they provide an added layer of accountability when domestic systems falter.
Africa does not need strongmen. It needs strong nations. Strong nations are not built on charisma or oratory alone. They are built on institutions that outlast leaders, systems that protect the powerless, and rules that even the powerful must obey.
The choice is ours. If Africa is to claim its rightful place in the world, not as a beggar but as a partner, not as a problem to be solved but as a power to be reckoned with, our progress must rest on institutions that endure. Weak institutions make strongmen. Strong institutions make strong nations.
