Book review: The Shackled Continent by Robert Guest.

My recent (yet brief) trips to Uganda this year sparked an interest in the economic difficulties faced by developing countries. TGC recommended Robert Guest's 'The Shackled Continent' as good one to read, so I did.  I'm no expert on economics or fiscal policy or any of that stuff (hence the comment from my Dad 'what made you read that?!'), but thankfully this book is intelligible.  Robert Guest is currently Business Editor of The Economist and has spent many years living and working in a variety of African countries.

I felt that Guest was empathetic, yet not afraid to highlight and critique some of the obvious failures made by African politicians and African people.  For example, he points out the flaws in the ANC's policy of (what I will crudely describe as) positive discrimination which has resulted in the mass exodus of the wealthy whites and their money, leading to a potentially negative effect on the economy.  He also explicates the frustrating red tape culture of governments, which effectively repels foreign investment because it becomes too costly for them to operate in these areas.  Guest also describes how foreign aid hasn't really made the difference that it could have, because of the way it's distributed.

I think it would be a fair summary to say that the gist of the book is that; Africa must help itself and remove its own roadblocks if it's ever going to catch up to developing countries elsewhere in the world.

Because the book was first published in 2004, I wondered what changes the author would make if he were to update it.  I was also interested to know whether Guest had any thoughts on how Christianity had impacted the economic situation in Africa.  I was able to contact him and received the following response:

"I think quite a lot of things have changed since I wrote it. Here are four, in no particular order: 

--There has been a surge in the price of oil and minerals, which has caused big but probably not sustainable economic booms in countries such as Nigeria and Angola. 

--There has been a huge influx of Chinese investment into Africa in the past decade. The Chinese government is anxious to secure supplies of oil, minerals and food, so it has been doing long-term deals with African governments to pump oil, dig up copper (etc) and hire huge patches of farmland. In return, the Chinese government has offered big loans to African governments and sent Chinese workers to build ports, railways and roads in Africa. I missed this development completely in my book, as it was just starting when I wrote it. 

We did a story about this in the Economist earlier this year;

http://www.economist.com/node/18586448?story_id=18586448

--AIDS drugs are much, ,much cheaper: $100 a year rather than $10,000. And not only do they keep people alive; they also make them less infectious, thus slowing the spread of the disease. So while AIDS has been a catastrophe for Africa and will continue to kill lots of people, the worst-case scenarios I sketched out are no longer likely to happen. 

We did a cover story about this in the Economist in June: 

http://www.economist.com/node/18774722

--I also failed to look at the possible impact of climate change on Africa, as information about this was very limited when I was writing. It's still very hard to say what will happen, but I take seriously the possibility that the rapid growth of the desert in places such as Sudan and Somalia could lead to wars over water. 



I recall that you specifically asked about the role of Christianity and Islam in Africa. I'm no expert, but you could try a book called "The Tenth Parallel", by Eliza Griswold. I haven't read it, but I met the author in Florida and she described it to me. She has travelled around the world looking at the regions where Christians and Muslims live side by side. There's a lot about  Africa."

http://www.amazon.com/Tenth-Parallel-Dispatches-Between-Christianity/dp/0374273189 


I'd definitely recommend this if you're in any way interested in how things work in Africa and how the economy (and subsequently, the poverty issues) could be transformed. It's easy to read and informative at the same time, however, bear in mind that it's completely secular and I guess I'd want to say that as Christians, we should see the gospel as the primary 'revolutionary' in Africa.

Daily bread.

I'm in the midst of organising a fundraiser for famine relief in East Africa. Estimates suggest that up to 7 million people will be affected as a result of the severe droughts that have hit the region over the past few months.

I feel wrong saying this, but I questioned my decision about whether it was right to raise money for something that deals with primarily a physical, and not a spiritual need. I think my doubts sadly reflect the unnecessary caution we sometimes have about doing things that don't directly involve word ministry from the outset. I am certainly not advocating a ministry that doesn't include propounding the word - in fact I guess that's a paradox.  My conclusion was that, I just couldn't justify doing nothing and mindlessly spending £3 on my bland latté, whilst millions of people who quite literally, have barely any possessions and minimal help from the governments responsible for them, are starving. How can we begin to tell people about Jesus if they are barely existing and we're not prepared to show them Jesus through our actions as well?

Thankfully, the money raised from the event will go directly to a Bishop in Kenya who provides aid relief. My hope is that, as they receive food and other provisions, the recipients will get a glimpse of the generosity of God (as displayed by his people) and turn to him, for their daily bread.