Is It Africa’s Turn?

Described by Publishers Weekly as “a refreshing take on the fortunes of Africa in the current century, and a fascinating compendium of some of the leading theorists of African development” – Africa’s Turn is a new publication by the Boston Review which emerged from an earlier magazine discussion on the progress of development in Africa.

Earlier last year, somewhat by chance, I was invited to contribute to the original discussion during a meeting with the Editor over coffee outside the Green Library at Stanford University.

Economist Edward Miguel writes the main article, discussing his time working in Busia, a small Kenyan border town, where he noticed 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?” he tracks a decade of comparably hopeful economic trends throughout sub-Saharan Africa and suggests that we may be seeing a turnaround.

In the book, “nine experts gauge his optimism. These include Olu Ajakaiye, Ken Banks, Robert Bates, Paul Collier, Rachel Glennerster, Rosamond Naylor, Smita Singh, David N. Weil, and Jeremy M. Weinstein”. A PDF of my response – published in the original magazine – is available here. A copy of the cloth-covered book can be ordered from Amazon.