What Role for Africa After 50 Years of Independence: Provider of Natural Resources or a New Global Leader?

A good number of the newly independent African states were at comparable levels of socio-economic development as their East Asian counterparts, for example Ghana had the same per-capita income as South Korea, and Nigeria as Malaysia’s (World Bank, 2010b). However, a great divergence developed between the two regions despite a strong run of socioeconomic development in Africa during the first decade of independence. Various explanations have been put forth to explain Africa’s stagnation and its diversion from other regions of the World. While providing arguments as to why this divergence happened, we provide evidence against this pessimistic history of Africa’s development, and point out to the notable progress and emergence of areas where Africa is exhibiting leadership; making it a force for change and transformation in the coming years.