Africa's Turn? (Boston Review Books)
After decades of disappointment, the economies of sub-Saharan Africa are looking up, according to the discussion in this forward-looking, issues-of-the-day volume. After a keynote chapter by Miguel, an academic economist involved with Kenya, nine respondents who also study the region for a living critique his assessment of the continent’s development issues. Citing macroeconomic statistics, Miguel adopts an optimistic stance, albeit with caveats, that ascribes economic improvement to higher commodity prices, investment from China, and democratization. All Miguel’s colleagues agree that the economic lots of African countries have generally improved since 2000 (with the usual exceptions, such as Zimbabwe); their several-page briefs about his views bring up climate change, population increase, or the vulnerability of economic growth to unfair elections, corruption, or ethnic strife. To hedge against such risks to economic vibrancy, Miguel proposes an international insurance program he calls “rapid conflict prevention support.” Miguel and company set forth the big-picture parameters for general-interest readers or debaters pondering the problem of poverty in Africa. --Gilbert Taylor