ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the interaction between charisma and politics in Africa. Two broad groups of charismatic political leaders are discussed: those who came to the fore during the era of independence struggles and saw themselves as an embodiment of their nation-states and having a transformative impact over the societies they led, and those who emerged largely in response to the failure of the first group or the discontent of postcolonial delivery and who sought political power to enhance their own personal interests. In both instances, the leaders emerged in a context of a crisis: the collapse of colonialism accompanied by the disintegration of the one-party state model and economic collapse.
