The "Minister Project" and its aim
Studies suggest that development in many African countries is impeded by difficulties to form stable governments and sometimes by repeated episodes of conflict. Prior scientific contributions attribute these challenges to historical factors like the slave trade and colonialism, but also to the challenges of improving state capacity and tax administration. Based on historically often arbitrary borders, many states are composed of a variety of regional and linguistic groups, sometimes with historical tensions between them.
Our project aims to better understand the challenges of government formation and compromises between different regional and linguistic (as per Ethnologue) groups. For that matter, we are gathering a new and comprehensive data set on all African governments after they became independent. We hope to help researchers, governments, as well as local and international private and public organizations to draft better policies and create institutions that are conducive to development. In addition to birth regions of government members, we are interested in their linguistic origin. Language is often an obstacle for the communication and can be linked to cultural differences.
Your contribution
To achieve this aim, we want to kindly ask everyone who possesses knowledge about particular countries and current or past government members to contribute to the project. The aim of such a “citizen science” approach is to make use of the important knowledge and information that individuals possess, instead of solely relying on few experts and their assessments. Any piece of information is important and helpful, even about a few presidents or ministers. We have created very simple participation forms that do not require any technical expertise, and can be filled out very easily and quickly.
The benefit of participating
The final project website will list all “citizen experts” who have contributed to the database to acknowledge your contribution, if you wish to be mentioned. Moreover, we will hold a lottery for all contributors with the chance to win 10 Amazon vouchers (each worth $US 50) or 1 brand-new iPad 2018, 128 GB.
(DE) (FR) (EN) Download: The project in a nutshell (A5)
Participation
You can choose the country on which you would like to contribute by clicking on the respective link below. Please consult the how-to guide to fill out the forms correctly or click here for information about Ethnologue.
![](ministers\Flags\Algeria.png)
Algeria 1980s-1990s
Algeria 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Angola.png)
Angola 1980s-1990s
Angola 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Benin.png)
Benin 1980s-1990s
Benin 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Botswana.png)
Botswana 1980s-1990s
Botswana 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Burkina Faso.png)
Burkina Faso 1980s-1990s
Burkina Faso 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Cameroon.png)
Cameroon 1980s-1990s
Cameroon 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Central African Republic.png)
CAR 1980s-1990s
CAR 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Chad.png)
Chad 1980s-1990s
Chad 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Congo, Democratic Republic of.png)
DR Congo 1980s-1990s
DR Congo 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Congo, Republic of.png)
Rep. Congo 1980s-1990s
Rep. Congo 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Cote d'Ivoire.png)
Cote d'Ivoire 1980s-1990s
Cote d'Ivoire 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Djibouti.png)
Djibouti 1980s-1990s
Djibouti 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Egypt.png)
Egypt 1980s-1990s
Egypt 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Equatorial Guinea.png)
Equa. Guinea 1980s-1990s
Equa. Guinea 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Eritrea.png)
Eritrea 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Ethiopia.png)
Ethiopia 1980s-1990s
Ethiopia 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Gabon.png)
Gabon 1980s-1990s
Gabon 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Gambia.png)
The Gambia 1980s-1990s
The Gambia 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Ghana.png)
Ghana 1980s-1990s
Ghana 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Guinea.png)
Guinea 1980s-1990s
Guinea 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Guinea Bissau.png)
Guinea Bissau 1980s-1990s
Guinea Bissau 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Kenya.png)
Kenya 1980s-1990s
Kenya 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Lesotho.png)
Lesotho 1980s-1990s
Lesotho 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Liberia.png)
Liberia 1980s-1990s
Liberia 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Madagascar.png)
Madagascar 1980s-1990s
Madagascar 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Malawi.png)
Malawi 1980s-1990s
Malawi 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Mali.png)
Mali 1980s-1990s
Mali 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Mauritania.png)
Mauritania 1980s-1990s
Mauritania 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Morocco.png)
Morocco 1980s-1990s
Morocco 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Mozambique.png)
Mozambique 1980s-1990s
Mozambique 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Namibia.png)
Namibia 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Niger.png)
Niger 1980s-1990s
Niger 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Nigeria.png)
Nigeria 1980s-1990s
Nigeria 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Senegal.png)
Senegal 1980s-1990s
Senegal 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Sierra Leone.png)
Sierra Leone 1980s-1990s
Sierra Leone 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Somalia.png)
Somalia 1980s-1990s
Somalia 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\South Africa.png)
South Africa 1980s-1990s
South Africa 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\South Sudan.png)
![](ministers\Flags\Sudan.png)
Sudan 1980s-1990s
Sudan 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Swaziland.png)
Swaziland 1980s-1990s
Swaziland 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Tanzania.png)
Tanzania 1980s-1990s
Tanzania 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Togo.png)
Togo 1980s-1990s
Togo 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Tunisia.png)
Tunisia 1980s-1990s
Tunisia 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Uganda.png)
Uganda 1980s-1990s
Uganda 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Zambia.png)
Zambia 1980s-1990s
Zambia 2000s-2010s
![](ministers\Flags\Zimbabwe.png)
Zimbabwe 2000s-2010s