The Failure of Leadership in Africa's Development

This book examines the standard scholarly explanations of the cause of Africas underdevelopment and argues that the traditional scholarly explanations colonial and neo-colonial expropriation, racial assumptions, nor geographical theory are plausible as the main cause of Africas underdevelopment. Rather, the book contends, the chief cause of the continents underdevelopment is the failure of leadership in a long succession of Africas traditional ruling classes. This failure of leadership, the book shows, was demonstrated most clearly in the historically traceable indifference of a long line of Africas monarchs to scientific and technological progress. This indifference set the stage for the subsequent conquest, expropriation, and technological stagnation of Africa. The book concludes by recommending a blueprint for the continents future development.