Season of Rains : Africa in the World

Africa is playing a more important role in world affairs than ever before. Yet the most common images of Africa in the American mind are ones of poverty, starvation, and violent conflict. But while these problems are real, that does not mean that Africa is a lost cause. Instead, as Stephen Ellis explains in Season of Rains , we need to rethink Africa’s place in time if we are to understand it in all its complexity—it is a region where growth and prosperity coexist with failed states. This engaging, accessible book by one of the world’s foremost researchers on Africa captures the broad spectrum of political, economic, and social foundations that make Africa what it is today. Ellis is careful not to position himself in the futile debate between Afro-optimists and Afro-pessimists. The forty-nine diverse nations that make up sub-Saharan Africa are neither doomed to fail nor destined to succeed. As he assesses the challenges of African sovereignties, Ellis is not under the illusion that governments will suddenly become more benevolent and less corrupt. Yet, he sees great dynamism in recent technological and economic developments. The proliferation of mobile phones alone has helped to overcome previous gaps in infrastructure, African retail markets are becoming integrated, and banking is expanding. Businesses from China and emerging powers from the West are investing more than ever before in the still land-rich region, and globalization is offering possibilities of enormous economic change for the growing population of one billion Africans, actively engaged in charting the future of their continent. This highly readable survey of the continent today offers an indispensable guide to how money, power, and development are shaping Africa’s future. FOREWORDArchbishop Desmond TutuI remember vividly the glorious day in 1994 when Nelson Mandela wasinaugurated as president of South Africa—the first to have been elected bymajority vote. His election drew a line under our history of apartheid andinstitutional racism and made us all look towards a better future.I also remember the day in 1980 when Zimbabwe gained itsindependence. Many of us had similar feelings of elation at that time, butthey have turned into deep disappointment.When it comes to politics, we could say that these two stories summariseAfrica’s achievements but also its struggle to realise its full potential.I have always had hope in humankind. I know what marvellous thingspeople can accomplish. I have also seen what mistakes they can make.Worse, they can be guilty of corruption and wickedness. In my lifetime,Africa has had its share of all of these. Its recent history is a mixed recordof both achievement and disappointment. I have no doubt that this is trueof every continent as well, which serves to make the point that in the end,we Africans are like everyone else. We are capable of the best and theworst.I believe that Africa will play an important role in our still-youngcentury, for reasons that Stephen Ellis explains in this book. We have thepeople, we have the ability and we have unwavering hope in the future.This book was written by a professor at the Vrije Universiteit inAmsterdam whose title has an interesting name—my own! I congratulatehis university on establishing the Desmond Tutu programme, whichcooperates with students and academics in South Africa. Most of all, I hopethat you will read and enjoy this thought-provoking book.Cape Town, July 2010 Africa is playing a more important role in world affairs than ever before. Yet the most common images of Africa in the American mind are ones of poverty, starvation, and violent conflict. But while these problems are real, that does not mean that Africa is a lost cause. Instead, as Stephen Ellis explains in Season of Rains, we need to rethink Africa & rsquo;s place in time if we are to understand it in all its complexity & mdash;it is a region where growth and prosperity coexist with failed states. This engaging, accessible book by one of the world & rsquo;s foremost researchers on Africa c Africa in time A world of light and shade Money and land How to be a hegemon Matters of state Twenty-first century development.