Why are some African countries improving and others not?

MANY AFRICANS rightly complain that outsiders carelessly lump together its 54 different countries and talk of it as a place that rises or falls as one. Such generalisations are not just lazy but also obscure more than they clarify. The most likely trend over coming decades in Africa will be a clear divergence between how various countries are doing, argues Nic Cheeseman, an expert in African democracies. Some are becoming richer and more democratic even as others stay poor and undemocratic.