Applied Economics for Africa: A New Textbook for African Students
By Dr. George B. N. Ayittey
Ghanaian economist, author and president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington DC
Economics is a very important subject but the main problem in teaching it in Africa is making it less esoteric and more relevant to the students. There are three reasons for this difficulty.
First, most of the economic textbooks are written by foreign authors, using foreign examples, which makes it difficult for African students to relate to. For example, it is hard to talk about the stock exchange as a means of raising capital when very few African countries have a stock market. Similarly, it is difficult to talk about oligopolistic firms when the main players in the economic field are state monopolies. It should be mentioned, however, that this trend is changing and more and more economic textbooks are being written by Africans for African students.
Summary
George B. N. Ayittey in Applied Economics for Africa explains economics in a way that African students of the subject or anyone interested in economics would understand using local examples. Applied Economics for Africa is published by Atlas Network in association with African Liberty.
The preoccupation of all African governments is to transform from developing to developed countries.