Expanding the Legacy
Tag: Development
7 Posts
Software as a Growth Engine
Tech-savvy governments are few and far between as civil services – usually large molochs that move at a glacial pace – struggle to adapt to the digital environment and display a reluctance to think outside the proverbial box. Addicted to paper forms, rubber stamps, seals, and protocols, civil servants almost...
Returning to Accelerated Growth
Home to half of the world’s fastest-growing economies, most of Africa is already now living its long-promised bright future. After a few lean years brought about by the end of the commodities super cycle, most of the continent’s top performers have pushed through the structural reforms needed to ensure the...
John Magufuli and Hope Forlorn
He earned his nickname – The Bulldozer – as minister of Roads; today the handle applies equally well to his new job as president of Tanzania. John Magufuli is all about flair. He enjoys playing his audience on national television and has a keen sense for opportunity. Perhaps taking a...
Wheel of Fortune: In Search of the Golden Decade
Download a PDF of this essay A golden decade is all it takes for a nation to progress from basket case to powerhouse and erect a solid foundation for lasting economic success. The 1980s were such a decade for South Korea which tripled its per capita annual income to almost...
On Savages, Revolutionaries, and Idiots
Driven by nostalgia for times that never were, victimised by foes that never existed, and waiting for an enlightened leader who never arrives: most political thinkers of Latin America have perfected the art of the blame game. The continent’s permanent state of underdevelopment is everyone’s fault – from ignorant colonial powers to arrogant Yankees and heartless capitalists.
From Dakar with Love
A self-described creative Marxist, Samir Amin (84) is a French-Egyptian economist who lives in Senegal and firmly believes that world capitalism – defined as the rule of oligopolies based in rich countries – maintains its power through five monopolies: technology, natural resources, finance, global media, and red buttons.
A Biotech Revolution for Africa
In western countries, the genetic modification of crops is often seen as a threat to the environment. Professor Calestous Juma takes a contrarian view: he is a keen advocate of biotechnology and its potential to transform African economies.
