SJS2 - Can Africa Turn from Recovery to Development

SJS2 - Can Africa Turn from Recovery to Development

Citation: Mkandawire, Thandika. "Can Africa Turn from Recovery to Development." Current
     History 113.736 (2014): 171-76. Print
Link: http://www.currenthistory.com/Article.php?ID=1153

Author's Credentials/Bias: Thadika Mkandawire is a renowned Swedish economist that is a recent contributor to the current history journal.In addition, he is a professor of African Development at the London School of Economics. This is clear evidence that he is a clear expert in his field, and has a good basis in economics. Evident biases do include the fact the he is specialized in Africa, therefore his knowledge of the rest of the world's economy isn't exactly on par with his knowledge base on Africa. Furthermore, he definitely  concentrates solely on Africa throughout the journal, not taking into consideration of the colonial powers that could have shaped its destiny.

Summary: There has been rumor circulating throughout the 21st century and the world that Africa is currently backwards,or in the process of unindustrilizing. However, all of these rumors couldn't be much more false, as Africa is proven to develop at exponential rates throughout the next few decades. Ever since around the year 2000, the average GDP per capita in the continent of Africa has indeed risen exponentially, at greater heights than its ever been in history. Mkandwaire explains several factors for this rapid development in recent history. Firstly, ever since the 1990s, African economies have been forced to implement freer markets and to establish "non-crony" capitalism in all of its states. This has been a combined result of pressure from the west and its own democracies calling for better lifestyles. Another factor is that many countries such as China have been investing heavily in Africa. This investment has allowed many African nations to get back on their feet and strive to fix their own economies. However, some may argue that is just a new form of neo-colonialism, yet, not much negative attention has been attributed to it in recent years. Furthermore, many African nations are in the process of re-ndustrialization. In essence, during the 1960s and 1970s, several African nations attempted to go through a process of industrialization. However, it ended up failing due to political instability. Today, since political instability is at a low in SELECT African nations, this process is finally due-able. All of the factors are threatened simply by the face of political instability. In political instability does threaten a nation, it will moreover threaten its entire economy and infrastructure. In retrospect, many nations in Sub-Saharan have been booming fiscally, and will most likely continue to in upcoming years.

Analysis:Mkandwire does an exemplary job at providing readers with the necessary information in order to understand the fate of the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, he adequately presents us with well supported fiscal history of the region, as it will be vital for proving his point. However, he did lack slightly in terms of foreign/international relations to Africa. He only provided a handful of examples, and it would have been beneficial if he reiterated with more countries besides developing ones. For instance, he could have examined Latin America's relations with Africa and used it to reiterate his points. In addition, he did lack going into detail, as he would mostly give a general consensus of what he wanted to explain. In essence, his article is well-structured and organized, and it could be used as a reliable source.