First, Why is Africa Poor? George Ayittey, the renowned Ghanaian economist and president of the Free Africa Foundation swears that “Africa is poor because she is not free”. Like Ayittey, Robert Guest, business editor for The Economist, in his book The Shackled Continent (2004), declares that “Africans are poor because they are poorly governed.” He argues that…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 1/3/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/why-do-things-always-fall_1_b_803445.html Copycat Dictators and Cartoon Democracies in Africa Ivory Coast, December 2010. Laurent Gbagbo says he won the presidential election. The Independent Ivorian Election Commission (CEI) said former prime minister Alassane Ouattara is the winner by a nine-point margin. The African Union, the Economic Community of West…
