The Dilemmas Of Africanization: Choices and Dangers for Sub-Saharan Africa [Hardcover]

L. Dalton Casto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

L. Dalton Casto's many years of work and travel in Africa, helping people cope with post-independent government experiments, have contributed to an original, intriguing and eye-opening analysis of Africa's policies and politics, successes and failures. His writing comes from direct experience with no hidden agendas or outside interference, as he analyses the various "Africanization" policies of replacing "non-citizen businesses" with African Citizen business ownership.

Topics cover the Africanization struggles in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe; and an in-depth analysis of South Africa today, including Nelson Mandela, Anti-Apartheid, the African National Congress, and South African Homelands.

The many examples and lessons illustrated in the book contribute to a better understanding of the on-going struggles for economic and political balance in both Sub-Saharan and South Africa.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Here, at last, is a first hand account by an eye-witness of the Africanization process..." -- Peter Duigan- Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

An invaluable and original work easily accessible to students, scholars, and the general reading public with an interest in African affairs. -- Midwest Book Review

Here, at last, is a first hand account by an eye-witness of the Africanization process after the European officials pulled down their flags and went home. The high hopes of Africanization were never attained; instead corruption, inefficiency and stagnation resulted. The entrepreneurial elites left the countries or were forced out, taking with them their capital and skills. Africans lacked the skills or the money to carry on, and all too often businesses, shops, stores, were abandoned. Throughout much of Africa the economies declined or stagnated.

Mr. Casto tells the stories of three countries where he served -- Ghana, Uganda and Kenya -- and of Zimbabwe where he studied. This is an important book that should be read by everyone interested in the reasons for Africa's failures. -- Peter Duignan, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

About the Author

Author, L. DALTON CASTO has worked as a business and economic consultant for the Ghanaian government, assisted business entrepreneurs and tribes in East Africa, Kenya, and Uganda, and consulted on other African government work. He completed post-graduate work at the University of California at Berkeley, School of Business and Economics, and has a business background in finance, promotion and management. Mr. Casto has traveled and researched extensively throughout Africa and has written of his experiences in another book, African Embrace. He lives in Northern California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: African Ways Pub (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965983005
• ISBN-13: 978-0965983006
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,387,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended reading for students of African politics, March 19, 2001

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dilemmas Of Africanization: Choices and Dangers for Sub-Saharan Africa (Hardcover)

The Dilemmas Of Africanization: Choices And Dangers For Sub-Saharan Africa describes the inevitable consequences of new and emerging African governments implementing a policy of replacing certain existing classes of non-black business owners and plantation-scale farmers with their own (often untrained and inexperienced) citizens. While the white owners of these farms and commercial enterprises departed the country, no native citizenry accepted the opportunity to continue their operations which resulted in the ravaging of the mercantile section of the economy while plantations ceased to be productive. Adding to the severe economic situation was the permanent deprivation of intellectual capital necessary to adequately conduct development -- and a sharp decrease of available capital for investment. Even in the face of decades of national examples of this deeply flawed social and national policy, Zimbabwe continues to confiscate white farms even with a ruined economy running rampant and South Africa after the removal of apartheid is experiencing incidences of white commercial farmer assassination and general white flight which does not bode well for its economic and political future. Very highly recommended reading for students of African national cultures, politics, economics, and international relations, Dalton Cato's The Dilemmas Of Africanization is a revealing, documented expose based upon years of his personal research and experience while traveling and working in African, assisting people to deal with post-independent governmental experiments, polices and politics.