Sub-Saharan Africa faces three big inter-related challenges over the next generation. It will double its population to two billion by 2045. By then more than half of Africans will be living in cities. And this group of mostly young people will be connected with each other and the world through mobile devices. Properly harnessed and planned for, this is a tremendously positive force for change. Without economic growth and jobs, it could prove a political and social catastrophe. Old systems ...

Africa has experienced two liberations: the first from colonial and racist regimes, and the second from the autocrats who often followed foreign rule. African countries now have the potential to undertake a third liberation - from political economies characterised by graft, crony capitalism, rents-seeking, elitism and social inequality. This third liberation will open up the economic space in which business can compete - a necessary condition for expanding employment. During the 2000s, the...

In 1960, the GDP per capita of Southeast Asian countries was nearly half of that of Africa. By 1986 the gap had closed and today the trend is reversed, with more than half of the world's poorest now living in sub Saharan Africa. Why has Asia developed while Africa lagged? The Asian Aspiration chronicles the stories of explosive growth and changing fortunes: the leaders, events and policy choices that lifted a billion people out of abject poverty within a single generation, the lar...

Why do some states thrive, grow their economies and uplift their people, while others, facing similar challenges, slide into low growth, social dysfunction and failure?After decades of work on the ground in Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, bestselling author Greg Mills seeks to provide answers in Rich State, Poor State.On each continent he traverses, Mills interrogates the how and why. How did Botswana go from being one of t...

The overwhelming challenge that South Africa faces, and has to date failed to address, is unemployment, which falls especially on African youths who were promised a better future after 1994. If the current unemployment challenge is not addressed, it will be impossible to sustainably lift many millions of people out of poverty. How South Africa Works reviews the country’s major economic achievements over the past two decades.Through numerous interviews with politicians, bus...

Lowest down on the Failed State Index for five years running, Somalia has been described as 'destroyed', 'stateless' and 'ravaged'. Yet is also a place of promise... In this concise and compelling book, three internationally recognised experts on Africa examine the Somalian crisis. Comparing Somalia to neighbouring Somaliland, from the historical background up to the present, and looking into the effect of international intervention, this book provides an astute, sometimes surprising analy...

State failure takes many forms. Somalia offers one extreme. The country's prolonged civil war led to the collapse of central authority, with state control devolving to warlord-led factions that competed for the spoils of local commerce, political power, and international aid. Malawi, on the other hand, is at the other end of the scale. During President Bingu's second term in office, the country's economy collapsed as a result of poor policies and Bingu's brand of personal politics. On the ...

Why have so many of Africa’s liberation movements – once symbols of hope, sacrifice and justice – struggled to deliver better lives once in power?Bringing together leading scholars, policymakers and political insiders, Why Liberation Movements Fail explores this enduring paradox across the continent. From South Africa, Mozambique and Angola to Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan, the contributors reveal how the very qualities that secured victory in str...

Democracy Works asks how we can learn to nurture, deepen and consolidate democracy in Africa. By analyzing transitions within and beyond the continent, the authors identify a 'democratic playbook' robust enough to withstand threats to free and fair elections. However, substantive democracy demands more than just regular polls. It is fundamentally about the inner workings of institutions, the rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, and leadership in government and c...

State failure takes many forms. Somalia offers one extreme. The country's prolonged civil war led to the collapse of central authority, with state control devolving to warlord-led factions that competed for the spoils of local commerce, political power, and international aid. Malawi, on the other hand, is at the other end of the scale. During President Bingu's second term in office, the country's economy collapsed as a result of poor policies and Bingu's brand of personal politics. On the ...

How have some people broken the shackles of their circumstances to achieve extraordinary things? Can success be taught, or does it depend on talent alone? What role does luck play? Through more than 250 interviews with leaders in sport, business, war and politics, Greg Mills and Emanuele Pirro distil the ingredients of success and, conversely, the causes of failure. From rugby’s triumphant Springboks to winning Formula 1 drivers, presidents guiding negotiations, generals on the battlefield...

‘These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world,’ said Charlie Wilson, of America’s role backing the anti-Soviet mujahideen. ‘And then we fucked up the endgame.’ With no support for Afghanistan after that war, the vacuum was filled by the Taliban and bin Laden.The Ledgerassesses the West’s similarly failed approach to Afghanistan after 9/11–in military, diplomatic, political and developmental terms.Dr David Kilcullen and Dr Greg Mills are uniquely pla...