Africa's Turn? (Boston Review Books) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), William R. Easterly (Foreword) "I last visited Busia, a small city in Kenya, in mid-2007..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, South Africa, World Bank (more...)

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After decades of disappointment, the economies of sub-Saharan Africa are looking up, according to the discussion in this forward-looking, issues-of-the-day volume. After a keynote chapter by Miguel, an academic economist involved with Kenya, nine respondents who also study the region for a living critique his assessment of the continent’s development issues. Citing macroeconomic statistics, Miguel adopts an optimistic stance, albeit with caveats, that ascribes economic improvement to higher commodity prices, investment from China, and democratization. All Miguel’s colleagues agree that the economic lots of African countries have generally improved since 2000 (with the usual exceptions, such as Zimbabwe); their several-page briefs about his views bring up climate change, population increase, or the vulnerability of economic growth to unfair elections, corruption, or ethnic strife. To hedge against such risks to economic vibrancy, Miguel proposes an international insurance program he calls “rapid conflict prevention support.” Miguel and company set forth the big-picture parameters for general-interest readers or debaters pondering the problem of poverty in Africa. --Gilbert Taylor

Product Description

By the end of the twentieth century, sub-Saharan Africa had experienced twenty-five years of economic and political disaster. While "economic miracles" in China and India raised hundreds of millions from extreme poverty, Africa seemed to have been overtaken by violent conflict and mass destitution, and ranked lowest in the world in just about every economic and social indicator.

Working in Busia, a small Kenyan border town, economist Edward Miguel began to notice something different starting in 1997: modest but steady economic progress, with new construction projects, flower markets, shops, and ubiquitous cell phones. In Africa's Turn? Miguel tracks a decade of comparably hopeful economic trends throughout sub-Saharan Africa and suggests that we may be seeing a turnaround. He bases his hopes on a range of recent changes: democracy is finally taking root in many countries; China's successes have fueled large-scale investment in Africa; and rising commodity prices have helped as well. Miguel warns, though, that the growth is fragile. Violence and climate change could derail it quickly, and he argues for specific international assistance when drought and civil strife loom.

Responding to Miguel, nine experts gauge his optimism. Some question the progress of democracy in Africa or are more skeptical about China's constructive impact, while others think that Miguel has underestimated the threats represented by climate change and population growth. But most agree that something new is happening, and that policy innovations in health, education, agriculture, and government accountability are the key to Africa's future.

Contributors: Olu Ajakaiye, Ken Banks, Robert Bates, Paul Collier, Rachel Glennerster, Rosamond Naylor, Smita Singh, David N. Weil, and Jeremy M. Weinstein

A Boston Review Book

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (April 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262012898
• ISBN-13: 978-0262012898
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #233,875 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars africa's turn, October 2, 2009

By	H. V. Amavilah "populi - the knowledge peddler" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I like the structure (form and content) of this little book! It's organized around one essay by its author, Edward Miguel, of UC Berkeley Economics. Professor William Easterly of New York University provides a foreword to the book, then nine other experts comment on Miguel's essay. This organizational structure is very interesting; it made me feel like I was sitting in an expert panel discussion. Excellent arrangement!
Here are some of the many important points of the book. Using the experience of the Kenyan-Ugandan border town of Busia as an example, the author observes discernable and strong economic and political trends throughout Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These trends have persisted for over a decade and seem to represent a permanent reversal of misfortunes for the region. He is also concerned that violence and climate change could wipe out all the recent gains. For this reason foreign donors should stand at attention with aid to step in in the event of the return to the droughts and civil conflicts of the past.
Expert comments are direct responses to Miguel's assessment of the situation. Almost all of them agree with Miguel that the recent growth of the sub-continent has been strong. However, nearly all are cautious about whether or not the change is a permanent, or transitory, shift. In that caution some believe SSA's institutional foundations remain nascent and shaky. They call for "a firmer institutional foundation" (p. 97), especially democratic institutions that would enhance good governance. One skeptical commentator wonders what the turnaround means if it does not benefit the rural poor (Singh).
In the foreword to the book Bill Easterly correctly notes that "In the West, Africa's image seems forever torn between two false extremes: Politically Correct Positive and Stereotypically Negative" (p. ix). A recent example of what Easterly is talking about is well represented in Debra Miller's book - Current Controversies: Aid to Africa (2009). As a reader I was pleased that Miguel's commentators do not make a big deal of aid to SSA. The massive aid often reported in the popular media has been really aid to corrupt regimes and their leaders - not to ordinary African people who need it and on whose bare back aid is usually justified. Except for episodic cases of bags of beans and corn sent to starving Ethiopians in the 1980s, for example, much Western aid to SSA in the 1970s to mid-1980s did not reach poor people. Thus, if one discounts those years, per capita foreign aid to SSA has actually fallen during the 1990-2000 period (see chart on p. 28). At the time that aid was falling, growth was rising. Hence, those who overemphasize the effects of aid on growth in SSA, fail to see that "African entrepreneurs are discovering that the current environment enables them to remove ... shackles themselves" (p. 58) - an observation further demonstrated by the fact Africa has one of the highest penetration rates of mobile technology in the world.
Moreover, those who are too pessimistic about the sustainability of current growth ignore the effects on policy of "learning from mistakes" (Collier). What is happening today in Africa is different from the past, but not quite new to other observers (see Vijay Mahajan, for example, ([...]). The current crises may be party poopers for SSA, but they will only wipe out static, not dynamic, gains.
Amavilah, Author
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