Saving Africa

The final work in the trilogy that began with All Poor Together and continued with A Great Deal of Nonsense. Saving Africa! Consider the challenges:



Africa’s population is the fastest growing in the world Its cities are growing even faster

With only 13% of the world’s population it has 69% of its HIV infections

It has received over 15 billion dollars in aid every year for forty years and this is set to double

But aid has not helped: overall, Africans are as poor as they were when it started

Why is this so? This book provides an intelligent and witty insight into the cultural underpinnings of Africa’s persistent poverty, as illustrated by Zimbabwe’s tragedy.
What can be done? Only Africans can save Africa, says John Hollaway, and this book sets out how they can do it.

“To save Africa it is necessary to understand Africa. Before modern medicine made a difference, Africa was the most dangerous place on the planet. To see how dangerous, consider the fate of Portugal. In 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between Spain and Portugal along a line 370 leagues west of Cape Verde. Spain was free to colonise to the west of this line and the Spaniards went through South America like a knife through butter. It smashed the Aztec and Inca Empires within forty years of Columbus setting foot on the mainland, and over the next hundred years comprehensively looted the continent of its gold and silver. And Portugal? Portugal, exploring to the east of the line, encountered Africa and did not get beyond the beaches. The only exploitation they carried out was slaving, which could be undertaken at the coast without leaving their ships. On shore they would be lucky to live through the first rainy season.”

“…giving aid to Africa does not work because it is going into a continent where population growth, driven by the ancient need to stay ahead of disease deaths, prevents African economies even getting to the starting point, where fierce family loyalties – nepotism to outsiders – drains it away before it can do any good, and where the real engine of wealth – privately owned fixed property and the mechanisms that create a market in it – is almost entirely missing.”

“The answer? Only Africans can save Africa. But these Africans are those in its huge and growing diaspora whose determination to get to a better life means that they have the skills and energy needed to change the continent. They understand, and have adopted, the culture – the survival mechanism – of the developed countries. They are monogamous, they live in a meritocratic environment and they understand how private fixed property and a market place in it can make people wealthy. They have the ability to transform Africa. That is how it can be done.”

Title: Saving Africa

Author: John Hollaway
ISBN: 0-7974-3230-2
Soft cover
288 Pages
RRP £14.95
To order: mail John Hollaway