Osei, Anja. Elite Theory and Political Transitions: Networks of Power in Ghana and Togo October 2018. Comparative Politics, Volume 51, Number 1, Pages 21-42(22).

This article argues that elite theories can contribute significantly to our understanding of democratization. Existing elite theories on the relationship between elite configurations and regime outcomes are critically reviewed and then tested in two case studies, Ghana and Togo. While Ghana is one of Africa's most democratic countries, Togo has remained an electoral autocracy. The empirical evidence is based on a unique data set that maps the interaction patterns between Members of Parliament (MPs) in each of the countries. Using social network analysis, the article shows that the elite interactions differ systematically between the countries. MPs in Ghana form a dense and strongly interconnected network that bridges ethnic and party cleavages. Moreover, MPs from different parties have developed a measure of trust in one another. In Togo, by contrast, there is much more suspicion between government and opposition, and much less cooperation.

Source: adapted from article's abstract

Rajak, D., & Dolan, C. (2022). Aspiring Minds: ‘A Generation of Entrepreneurs in the Making’. Sociological Research Online, 27(4), 803-822. https://doi.org/10.1177/13607804211042905

This article examines how corporate, state and donor interests have converged in attempts to craft South Africa’s youngsters into an army of entrepreneurs as the last frontier for creating growth in a post-job world. The authors investigate the apparatus designed to engineer this entrepreneurial revolution and the actors hoping to seed enterprising aspirations in school-age kids. Their ethnographic findings show that while the ideology of entrepreneurial education enrols kids in anticipation of an entrepreneurial future, it falls short of both its enticing promise and its transformative intentions. As enterprise education fails to deliver on the New South African Dream, they argue, the aspirations it propagates withers, generating disaffection rather than a generation of entrepreneurial subjects faithful to the neoliberal creed of making it on your own.

Source: Culled from article's abstract

Woods, Dwayne. "State Action and Class Interests in the Ivory Coast." African Studies Review 31, no. 1 (1988): 93-116. doi:10.2307/524585.

The Ivory Coast's economic development and political stability in the past thirty years have sparked divergent opinions. Some see it as a model for other African nations, highlighting the positive impact of incentives for rural producers and a liberal investment code on sustained economic growth, according to the World Bank. The country experienced a seven percent annual growth rate between 1960 and 1975. Critics, however, argue that the economic crisis reveals the limitations of the liberal economic model adopted by the Ivorian political elite. There's no consensus on whether this approach benefited the majority of Ivorians or made the country overly dependent on Western nations for capital and technology. The role of the Ivorian state is central, with its function varying depending on the analytical perspective. Nevertheless, its pivotal role in the last three decades is indisputable, and the debate centres on whose interests the state serves: the Ivorian peasant, as mall planter bourgeoisie, or the bureaucratic elite itself.

Source: adapted from article's abstract culled from Cambridge.org

Africa is a Country: Nkrumah's Legacy

Date: September 21, 2020

Summary:

This episode of AIAC Talk, Africa is a Country's live show, focused on Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first Prime Minister. The panel, featuring journalist Anakwa Dwamena and historian Ben Talton, aimed to unpack Nkrumah's legacy and discuss his enduring impact on the present generation. Nkrumah, who declared Ghana's independence in 1957, emphasized the inseparable link between Ghana's independence and the broader liberation of Africa. Despite facing challenges and ultimately being overthrown in 1966, Nkrumah's influence is experiencing a resurgence, prompting a thoughtful exploration of his ideas and memory in this show.

Read about the interview here.

‍

‍

‍

Prabhu, Anjali. “Négritude: A Passion in Abiola Irele’s Work.” Journal of the African Literature Association 14, no. 1 (2020): 126–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/21674736.2019.1681770.

This essay focuses on Abiola Irele's passionate and life-long engagement with négritude and the centrality of his thinking and writing about négritude to his œuvre. Using one of Irele's final lectures, if not the last public lecture he gave, the author, who witnessed the lecture, takes up several moments of that presentation and links them to Irele's landmark work on négritude, his contributions to scholarship in African literary studies, and his footprint in the field through his publications, editorial leadership, and mentoring.

Source: Essay's abstract

Jack, Andrew and Adam Green. "African Business Leaders Find New Ways to Give Back." FT.Com (Nov 15, 2017).

This article highlights the philanthropic works of some of Africa's business leaders in diverse areas of life including education, technology, nutrition, health and disaster response. Business leaders whose charitable works are highlighted in the article include Jim Ovia and Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa of Zimbabwe, Patrice and Precious Motsepe, and Mark Shuttleworth of South Africa and Dikembe Mutombo of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Source: proquest.com