Lawuyi, Olatunde Bayo. “The Social Marketing of Elites: The Advertised Self in Obituaries and Congratulations in Some Nigerian Dailies.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 61, no. 2 (1991): 247–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/1160617.

This article is concerned with the analysis of elite culture and the way it articulates the particular and the universal within an heterogenous, stratified and dynamic system. The focus is on elite values in obituary and congratulation advertisements in the Daily Times (Lagos) and Daily Sketch (Ibadan), but careful consideration has been given to other newspapers. A remarkably similar pattern of publication is found nationally within Nigeria and regionally along the West African coast. Even elite residents abroad, with limited access to their national dailies, patronize regional publications like West Africa to advertise their concerns, interests and achievements. The accent is on the personal and institutional processes involved in the creation and maintenance of communities: for instance, career making, mobilization of resources and personnel, and interaction of personalities. The thesis is that the obituary and congratulation advertisements are not only about power but are also attributes of status. Specifically, the power order and the economic order that inform their construction form a dialectic the essential manifestation of which is selfhood (Cohen, 1976). This selfhood, as a social construct, brings out not only the public nature of success, but also how it may be altered to define a new situation or status.

Source: article

Cole, Robert Eugene. "The Liberian Elite as A Barrier to Economic Development". 1967. PhD Dissertation, (Northwestern University, 1967).  

This dissertation addresses the Liberian elite as a barrier to economic development.

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Boudreaux, Karol. 2007. "State Power, Entrepreneurship, and Coffee: The Rwandan Experience". Mercatus Policy Series, Policy Comment No. 15, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1026935 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1026935

In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Paul Kagame's new government embarked upon a revolutionary restructuring of the economy. It lifted tight government controls on the production, sale, and distribution of a variety of goods, liberalized many sectors of the economy, and gave people the freedom to trade openly. Perhaps the biggest success story of Rwanda's liberalization is the revitalization of the country's coffee sector, particularly the development of a new niche product: specialty coffee. A mainstay of the Rwandan economy since the 1930s when Belgian colonial officials encouraged coffee production, coffee remains a key export crop for Rwandans, generating millions of dollars of export revenue and garnering international attention for the high quality of the local beans. This study highlights two positive results flowing from Rwandan coffee production: Liberalization strategies alleviate poverty and develop human capital. By removing pervasive and oppressive government controls over coffee production and sale, the Rwandan government has created space for smallholder farmers to be entrepreneurial, create new ties with foreign buyers, develop valuable skills, and increase their incomes; Liberalization has had the unanticipated benefit of reconciliation. Liberalization in the coffee sector creates new incentives for smallholder farmers in Rwanda to work together for a common goal: improving their lives through the production of high quality specialty coffee. Working together toward this common goal has helped Rwandans to reconcile with each other in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide.

Economic liberalization has improved the lives of thousands of Rwandans. With increasing income and new opportunities for entrepreneurship, Rwandans are better able to care for themselves and their families. Surprisingly, economic liberalization also seems to be playing a role in reconciliation. These positive outcomes suggest that a focus on economic liberalization in post-conflict environments may pay large dividends in terms of both economic development and peace.

Source: Article's abstract

Behuria, Pritish. "Committing To Self-Reliance And Negotiating Vulnerability: Understanding The Developmental Challenge In Rwanda". PhD Thesis (Department Of Developmental Studies, SOAS, University Of London, 2015).

This thesis highlights the evolution of elite politics, details RPF ideology and develops a historical study of three sectors (coffee, tea and mining). Though previous governments invested in increasing the production of primary commodity exports, very little was done to reduce the vulnerability of the economy to global commodity price fluctuations. In contrast, the RPF’s strategy has targeted reducing vulnerability to international price fluctuations through increasing productivity and embracing value-addition. Such goals work in line with achieving self-reliance. A better understanding of the developmental challenge facing the RPF government is developed through showcasing how vulnerability both motivates and inhibits economic development.

Source: Article's abstract

Ansoms, An. Re-Engineering Rural Society: The Visions and Ambitions of the Rwandan Elite, African Affairs, Volume 108, Issue 431, April 2009, Pages 289–309, https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adp001

This article analyses the Rwandan elite's visions and ambitions for a wide-ranging re-engineering of rural society. The post-1994 political elite has few links to rural society and the peasant way of life, and sees little room for small-scale peasant agriculture in Rwanda's economic future. The article shows how current Rwandan policy makers aim to realize three social engineering ambitions: first, to transform the agricultural sector into a professionalized motor for economic growth, centred on competitive and commercial farm units; second, to artificially upgrade rural life by inserting ‘modern’ techniques and strategies into local realities, while hiding true poverty and inequality; and, finally, to transform Rwanda into a target-driven society from the highest to the lowest level. The article points to the (potential) dangers, flaws, and shortcomings of this rural re-engineering mission, and illustrates how the state as the engineer ‘hovers’ above the local without consulting those affected. It concludes that contemporary polices are unlikely to be conducive to poverty reduction.

Source: Article's abstract

Akpomera, Eddy. “International Crude Oil Theft: Elite Predatory Tendencies in Nigeria.” Review of African Political Economy 42, no. 143 (2015): 156–65. Http://www.jstor.org/stable/24858333.

Aside from religious terrorism, Nigeria is a country that faces a lot of challenges to its economy, much of them stemming from the rampant corruption in the country. Nigeria also has an international reputation for crude oil theft which poses a serious threat to the country’s economy. What is more disturbing is that the perpetrators are the elites in the country both in and out of the government who conspire to carry out the crime. This paper throws more light on the critical issue of the theft of crude oil and provide suggestions to deal with the cancer that's eating away at the country’s dominant source of wealth.

Source: Culled from article