The Challenge For Africa

Clear-eyed review of common problems experienced in many African countries arising from its history, including colonialism, independence, international aid, resource extraction, and weak leadership and governance. The insights are deep and nuanced and also personal, making it feel more authentic tha......more

Wow. I'm still absorbing this book and the many, many, many ideas it casually contains. To start off, here's Publishers Weekly's review: "Africa's moral and cultural dysfunctions loom as large as its material problems in this wide-ranging jeremiad. Maathai (Unbowed), a Kenyan biologist and winner of......more

"The decline of much of Africa's fishing industry provides an unhappy glimpse into an economic order what continues to place commodities first and communities last, in which a problem like overfishing in the norther Atlantic and other regions of the world is exported to Africa, where it has led to A......more

Wangari Maathai clearly had some assistance in writing this book about Africa's challenges. Her writing is much improved from her previous book. I do take issue with her sometimes contradictory propositions. For example, in one chapter she states that one problem is that too much aide is given to Af......more