The principal-agent and institutional corruption models which in the past three decades have become the predominant and mainstream theoretical explanations to the demand and supply sides of corruption have failed to adequately examine the role of the nature and character of the African state in addressing political corruption in Africa’s authoritative regimes and democracies. Are Africa’s democratic regimes less corrupt than the authoritarian ones they succeeded? In this paper, I provide a historical analysis of how literatures associating political corruption with regime types in Africa have been inadequate in addressing the issue. Alternative explanatory models addressing political corruption must be explored in Africa, where the ruling political elites, a strong force in society use the state as an arena to extract resources away from their societies to benefit both domestic and foreign solidarities, as the heroic assumption that African leaders, such as autocrats, high-levels officials or elected politicians, are genuinely interested in curbing corruption have been a façade.