This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
The State of Africa


A History of Fifty Years of Independance


By Martin Meredith


As the Arab spring rumbles into the autumn of 2011, so Michael Meredith’s authoritative epic socio-economic account of post-colonial Africa becomes ever the more pertinent for those seeking a broader understanding of the harsh lessons of five decades of troubles on the African continent.


The wave of pomp, ceremony and most importantly optimism that followed independence across the African continent in the decades after the second world war, soon turned to a recurrent nightmare of corruption and incompetence and insatiable greed and exploitation amidst autocratic rule. The administrative efficiencies of the colonial rulers being replaced by the drive for African socialism, critically undermined by generations of educational servitude.


The honeymoon period of dreams was quickly replaced by delusion, corruption, coups, the advent and decline of tyrants, and the current era of Aids and economic disappointments.


Whilst Meredith focuses on the political tensions which have underpinned 60 years of conflict on the continent it is attention to the detail when exploring both the social and economic that sets this book apart as not just a masterpiece of story-telling but a critical read for


anyone considering doing business on the continent.


His analysis highlights only too well how poor leadership and economic mis-management has undermined development and investment on the continent. His commentary seeks to explain why almost all African countries have followed such a devastatingly path of violence and why the necessary leadership to break the cycle has never arisen. There have of course been exceptions like Botswana, South Africa and Senegal where multiparty democracies with well-run economies represent some hope that Africa might one day emerge from its downward spiral.


The State of Africa is an exceptional achievement in dispassionate writing, the statistics are staggering and critical in understanding the rocky journey. With a fresh wave of optimism and foreign aid there is no doubt that Africa’s rich mineral reserves and relatively untapped consumer markets will prove an attractive lure for western investors and entrepreneurs. Understanding the cycles of African politics is not critical to ensuring that history does not repeat itself but for understanding a very different culture of business.


Buy it here.


BOOK REVIEW


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60