George Ayittey
George Ayittey
George Ayitteyis a Ghanaian economist, author and president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington DC. He is a professor at American University, and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has championed the argument that "Africa is poor because she is not free", that the primary cause of African poverty is less a result of the oppression and mismanagement by colonial powers, but rather a result of modern oppressive native autocrats. He also goes beyond criticism...
NationalityGhanaian
ProfessionEconomist
CountryGhana
George Ayittey quotes about
The election of Senator Barack Obama brought jubilation across Africa, where millions celebrated him as 'one of their own.'
The richest persons in Africa are heads of state, governors and ministers. So every 'educated' African who wants to be rich - and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be rich - heads straight into government or politics.
Personally, I regard myself as an intellectual 'rebel,' kicking against the 'old colonialism-imperialism paradigm' which has landed Africa in a conundrum.
There was free trade in Africa. There was free enterprise in Africa before the colonialists came.
When Uganda got debt relief in 1999, the first item President Museveni bought was a presidential jacket for himself.
Africa is poor because she is not free.
What Africa needs to do is to grow, to grow out of debt.
Across Africa there is what I call a colonialist mentality or orthodoxy. Orthodoxy in the sense that a lot of things have gone wrong in Africa in the post-colonial period. And time and time again, any time something went wrong, the leadership claims that it was never their fault.
The only good dictator is a dead one.
To be sure, dictators are crafty, evil geniuses with awesome firepower at their disposal. They are also brutally efficient at intimidation, terrorism, and mass slaughter. However, a force is able to dominate because the counterforce is either nonexistent or weak.
Back in the 1960s Africa not only fed itself, it also exported food. Not anymore.
Radio is the death and life of Africa.
Look at the history of peace accords in Africa. They have a terrible record. They are shredded even before the ink on them is dry.
Western-style multi-party democracy is possible but not suitable for Africa.