Synopses & Reviews
For the first time in generations, Africa is spoken of these days with enthusiastic hope: no longer seen as a hopeless morass of poverty, the continent instead is described as Africa Rising,” a land of enormous economic potential that is just beginning to be tapped.
With Africa: Why Economists Get It Wrong, Morten Jerven offers a bracing corrective. Neither story, he shows, is accurate. In truth, most African economies have been growing rapidly since the 1990sand, until a collapse in the 70s and 80s, they had been growing reliably for decades. Puncturing weak analysis that relies too much on those two lost decades, Jerven redraws our picture of Africas past, present, and potential.
Synopsis
Not so long ago, Africa was being described as the ‘Hopeless Continent. Recently, though, talk has turned to ‘Africa Rising, with enthusiastic voices exclaiming the potential for economic growth across many of its countries. What, then, is the truth behind Africas growth, or lack of it?
In Is Africa Rising?, Morten Jerven fundamentally reframes the debate, challenging mainstream accounts of African economic history. Whilst for the past two decades experts have focused on explaining why there has been a ‘chronic failure of growth in Africa, Jerven shows that most African economies have been growing at a rapid pace since the mid-90s. In addition, African economies grew rapidly in the 50s, the 1960s, and even into the 1970s. Thus, African states were dismissed as incapable of development based largely on observations made during the 1980s and early 1990s. The result has been misguided analysis, and few practical lessons learned.
An essential account of the real impact economic growth has had on Africa, and what it means for the continents future.
Synopsis
'A valuable corrective to the fraying narrative of African] failure.'
Foreign Affairs
Not so long ago, Africa was being described as the hopeless continent. Recently, though, talk has turned to Africa rising, with enthusiastic voices exclaiming the potential for economic growth across many of its countries.
What, then, is the truth behind Africa's growth, or lack of it? In this provocative book, Morten Jerven fundamentally reframes the debate, challenging mainstream accounts of African economic history. Whilst for the past two decades experts have focused on explaining why there has been a 'chronic failure of growth' in Africa, Jerven shows that most African economies have been growing at a rapid pace since the mid nineties. In addition, African economies grew rapidly in the fifties, the sixties, and even into the seventies. Thus, African states were dismissed as incapable of development based largely on observations made during the 1980s and early 1990s. The result has been misguided analysis, and few practical lessons learned.
This is an essential account of the real impact economic growth has had on Africa, and what it means for the continent's future.
About the Author
Morten Jerven teaches at the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He is the author of Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Misunderstanding economic growth in Africa
2. Trapped in history?
3. African growth recurring
4. Africa's statistical tragedy?
Conclusion