Africa unchained : the blueprint for Africa's future / George B.N. Ayittey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ayittey, George B. N., 1945-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poverty--Africa.

Poverty.

Africa.

Africa--Economic policy.

Economic policy.

Africa--Economic conditions--1960-.

Economic conditions.

Africa--Politics and government--1960-.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 483 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

Why Have the Poorest Africans yet to begin the road to prosperity in the twenty-first century? Celebrated economist George Ayittey thinks the answer is obvious: Africa is poor because it is not free. The freedoms Africans enjoyed in their traditional systems were snatched from them, first by foreign colonial powers and now by modern African leaders with similarly oppressive and confiscatory practices. As corruption, repression, and war surged, Africa's infrastructure crumbled, states collapsed, and investors fled. Instead of bemoaning colonial legacies and globalization for the myriad difficulties facing the continent today, Ayittey boldly proposes a new path for Africa-away from the constellation of vampire states and coconut republics established by Africa's elites.

Africa Unchained seeks to break out of the shackles that inhibit honest debate on the continent. Ayittey boots political correctness out of the window, shatters myths, and turns contemporary wisdom about Africa completely upside down. He states forcefully that the secrets to Africa's prosperity are already embedded in its own centuries-old indigenous traditions of free enterprise, free markets, and free trade. Rather than continuing to use the exploitative and repressive systems that the elites imported from abroad, he urges Africa to modernize, build upon, and improve its own indigenous institutions. The economic model here is uniquely African and borrows little from the developed world. This pathbreaking book offers the most highly revolutionary plan ever proposed for moving Africa forward.

Contents:

Map of Africa ix

Chapter 1 Why Africa is Poor 1

Atinga: The African Peasant

Chapter 2 The Wrath of the People 33

Angry Peasants Fighting Back

More Angry Voices

Economic Retrogression

Africa's Salvation and Future

Abysmal Failure of Western Policies toward Africa

Chapter 3 The Postcolonial Elite Development Model 57

Ideologies for Africa's Postcolonial Development

Strategies for Development

The Initial Mistakes

Leadership Flaws

Chapter 4 The Cultural Betrayal 93

The Imposition of Alien Systems on Africa

The Destruction of Africa's Heritage

Chapter 5 Development Finance 131

The Resource Gap

Foreign Aid After Independence

The Failure of Foreign Aid Programs in Africa

Chapter 6 The First Generation Problems 173

The Predatory State

Failed Industrialization Bid

Chapter 7 The Second Generation Problems 237

Africa's Agricultural Crisis

Inflation

Africa's Foreign Debt Crisis

Chapter 8 How to Develop Africa 307

Why the Statist/Socialist Model Failed in Africa

Chapter 9 The Indigenous Economic System 337

Property Rights

Free Market, Free Trade Tradition

The Indigenous System: A Summary and Assessment

Indigenous Africa under Colonial Rule

The Golden Age of Peasant Prosperity

Botswana: The Shining Black Economic Star

The Keys to Botswana's Success

Addendum: Myths about African Participation in the Slave Trade

Chapter 10 The Atinga Development Model 365

The New Development Strategy

The Village Development Model

The Informal Sector: Free Enterprise Rules

Investment Strategy

Chapter 11 Epilogue and Conclusions 401

Monumental Leadership Failure

African Renaissance.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [452]-467) and index.

ISBN:

1403963592

OCLC:

53099115

Online:

Publisher description