Paper short abstract:

This paper introduces the panel theme by problematizing the nexus between aid and authoritarianism in sub-Saharan Africa after 1991, by identifying recurrent patterns between donor and recipient countries, and by raising a number of questions relevant for the panelists.

Paper long abstract:

The complicity between foreign aid and authoritarianism in Africa is a historic continuity that has recently experienced revival. This paper serves as an introduction to the panel. It identifies predominent trends in bilateral and multilateral aid given to auhoritarian African governments after 1991. It concentrates on recurrent patterns in how donors and dictators co-evolve and higlights a number of questions relevant for a comparative analysis of aid and authoritarianism in Africa today.