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
Getting rid of the dictator is only a first step in establishing a free society. The dictatorship must also be disassembled.
Mugabe's become a disgrace to Africa. And I must say this because I am an African and a lot of us looked up to him back in the 1980s when he was the liberation hero. But he's now turned himself into a murderous despot.
What Africa needs to do is to grow, to grow out of debt.
The election of Senator Barack Obama brought jubilation across Africa, where millions celebrated him as 'one of their own.'
Africa's salvation doesn't lie in begging and begging for more aid, and as an African, I find it very, very humiliating.
Africa has more dictators per capita than any other continent.
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.
Traditionally, Africans hate governments. They hate tyranny.
When Uganda got debt relief in 1999, the first item President Museveni bought was a presidential jacket for himself.
Virtually all of Africa's civil wars were started by politically marginalized or excluded groups.
Western-style multi-party democracy is possible but not suitable for Africa.
Hippos kill more people in Africa annually than any other wild animal.
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.