The myth of economic growth in Africa

SUMMARY

Most of the models in economics were formulated based on experiences outside Africa, raising questions about their relevance to the continent where conditions can be markedly different to those that inspired those models. This debate must be revisited in the light of recent economic controversies about Africa.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the external reader and Leo Zeilig for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the debate. Thanks also to David Barkin for encouraging me to write the piece and to Clare Smedley for very helpful editorial feedback. Additional comments from the reading public welcome.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Franklin Obeng-Odoom is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. His books include Oiling the urban economy: land, labour capital, and the state in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana (Routledge, London, 2014) and Reconstructing urban economics: towards a political economy of the built environment (Zed, London, 2016). Franklin is based at the University of Technology Sydney, School of Built Environment, Australia.