Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Africa's Future

by G. Ayittey

Overview

In Africa Unchained , George Ayittey takes a controversial look at Africa's future and makes a number of daring suggestions. Looking at how Africa can modernize, build, and improve their indigenous institutions which have been castigated by African leaders as 'backward and primitive', Ayittey argues that Africa should build and expand upon these traditions of free markets and free trade. Asking why the poorest Africans haven't been able to prosper in the Twenty-first-century, Ayittey makes the answer obvious: their economic freedom was snatched from them. War and conflict replaced peace and the infrastructure crumbled. In a book that will be pondered over and argued about as much as his previous volumes, Ayittey looks at the possibilities for indigenous structures to revive a troubled continent.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403973863
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	09/25/2006
Edition description:	2005
Pages:	483
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.05(d)

About the Author

GEORGE B.N. AYITTEY is Distinguished Economist in Residence at George Washington University. He is the author of Africa Betrayed and Africa in Chaos (both Palgrave Macmillan).

Table of Contents

Prologue INTRODUCTION: WHY AFRICA IS POOR The African Paradox Atinga: The African Peasant Angry Peasants Fighting Back More Angry Voices Economic Retrogression Africa's Salvation and Future Plan of Book A CENTURY LOST The Dawn of the New Century Dysfunctional States TACKLING AFRICA'S CRISES Establishing the "Enabling Environment" Tackling Persistent Crises COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP FAILURE Introduction The Blame Game Kokonut Reform: Progress Report Combating AIDS: Utter Leadership Failure Tackling Other Issues Shameful Response to Zimbabwe's Crisis Africa's Predicament Ayittey's Laws of African Misgovernance POST-COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT: THE ELITE MODEL The Shibboleth of Development Ideologies for Africa's Post-colonial Development Strategies for Development THE FIRST GENERATIONAL PROBLEMS The Predatory State Failed Industrialization Drive Development Financing: The Huge Resource Gap THE SECOND GENERATIONAL PROBLEMS Agricultural Crisis The Foreign Exchange Crisis The Debt Crisis The Patronage System Political Instability WHY SOCIALISM AND STATISM FAILED IN AFRICA Failed State Operations: The Evidence Case Studies Reasons For Failure Understanding Capitalism HOW TO DEVELOP AFRICA Introduction Establishing the Enabling Macro Environment The Atinga Development Model THE NEW AFRICAN STATE Introduction The Role of the State Agricultural Strategies Industrialization AFRICA AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMY Globalization and Africa The Role of the International Community Foreign Aid Programs to Africa EPILOGUE AND CONCLUSIONS African Development in the Twenty-First Century The Role of African Elites Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

'A superb analysis of the continent and its recent ordeals' - The Wall Street Journal

'A controversial and thought-provoking book' - Ian Taylor, International Affairs

Praise for Ayittey's Africa in Chaos:

'Crucial for anyone seeking an understanding of Africa's condition . . . Read it now, before it's too late.' - The Washington Times

'...robust, provocative...Ayittey takes no prisoners.' - The New York Times Book Review

'...Ayittey knows Africa well...a brave and reflective book.' - The Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher