I have mixed feelings about Timoleon Amessa's Saving Africa book. The author is from Cote D'Ivoire but he's lived in the UK for decades.
What I liked
- He says that African leaders ought to take responsibility for its problems.
- He doesn't blame foreigners for everything.
- He spends half the book offering solutions.
- "Democracy is a logical and fair method. It is not rocket science and it is not magic either." (Many argue that Africans are too immature/savage for democracy)
- African countries should focus on the agricultural sector first.
- “Neighboring countries envied Côte D’Ivoire. West Africans rely on agriculture, but Houphouët-Boigny’s policies made a difference because the economy was partly operated by private Western agro-industrial companies.
What I didn't like
He spends half of the long book documenting Africa's problems. This is not news. A simple four-word summary would suffice: "Africa has many problems."
- The book is repetitive and long-winded.
- He overestimates the importance and benefits of a Parliamentary democracy vs. a Presidential democracy. Or the marvels of "popular democracy" and "federalism." Countries have failed with all these systems - none is a panacea.
- He advocates redrawing the borders.
- He says Africans should "dismiss anything from a foreign culture" and later says that they "must not allow themselves to cut their contact with Western countries" because they need their science and tech. Later, he says, "Africans should accelerate their integration into Western civilization and not reject it." Make up your mind.
- He sometimes makes crazy leaps of faith, skipping the devil in the details. "There's no reason different ethnic groups cannot get on well and live peacefully." Or "Africans need to acquire science and technology one way or another." Easy to say!
- He adds that Africans should all get a free education. Paying for it is easy, according to him: "political leaders should sacrifice part of their salaries for it." Yeah, right.
- "Africans have an inability to understand the Western way of life."
The book's cover makes the grandiose claim that this is a "book that will change the world forever."
Not surprisingly, it doesn't live up to that.
However, it's nice to see that in a sea of complainers, there are a few authors who will focus on solutions instead of spending 90% of their books pointing fingers at all the problems and blaming everyone. That's the main reason I give this flawed book 7/10 stars.
Memorable excerpt from the book's conclusion
“It was during colonization that many technical and scientific methods of the West, an integral part of modern life, were taught to Africans. Today, entire social infrastructures and administration are derived from colonization. There are schools, for example, where everyone learns their coun-try’s official language.”
“Modern medicine, with its advantage over African medicine, has been introduced in Africa during the period of colonization. So were efficient agricultural tools and techniques. Some African countries can process their raw materials, which results from colonization. Paved roads, railway, vehicles, aircraft, shipping, telephone, the Internet, radio, television, and the media is everywhere, even if they are badly managed. All these were Western innovations. Religion, music, and sport are all results of colonization.“It would be unfair of Africans not to recognize that their life today is a result of colonization. They must admit that their poor quality of ife is because their political leaders failed to take over the governments after colonization. One would have thought that Africa would one day be able to work wonders as a result of the influence of Western culture on their society, as did Japan and other Far East countries. The Japanese did not skimp on resources nor did they spend years whining about their suffering. They made good use of American influence, while at the same time keeping their culture too. China has done the same.” (Loc 4854)
DISCLOSURE: I had an advanced copy to do an honest review.
