Our own Dr. George Ayittey was recently recognized by the prestigious Foreign Policy Magazine to be one of the world’s Top 100 Global Thinkers.

Here is the full text from the magazine’s write-up:

George Ayittey: ECONOMIST | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY | WASHINGTON

Ayittey, a Ghanaian economist and head of the Free Africa Foundation, has spent his career trying to convince the world that Africans, not aid workers, will set Africa right. Enough already with the victim complex, he argues: Let’s get to work. That philosophy has never been more relevant than in 2009, when the debate over international assistance kicked into high gear.  If it were up to Ayittey, the world would go beyond reforming the distribution of aid and gradually do away with handouts altogether. Aside from charity’s ineffectiveness, he notes, “[T]he presumption that Africans don’t know what is good for them and that Americans or other foreigners know what is best for Africans is extremely offensive.” [Full article on Foreign Policy.com]

Secretary Clinton with Professor Ayittey

George Ayittey

August 1, 2009

Crossposted with “Ghanadot”

Next week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting 7 African countries in 11 days: Cape Verde Islands, Liberia, Nigeria, Congo DR (Goma, in particular), Kenya, South Africa and Angola. Part of the purpose of the trip is to smooth over ruffled feathers. Recall that Kenyans were miffed over the fact the President Obama skipped his fatherland and visited Ghana instead. And Nigerians felt his trip to Ghana was an insidious plot to destabilize their country. So Hillary is being dispatched to soothe frayed nerves and douse the flames. There are also genuine concerns in the Obama administration about Nigeria’s stability and China’s forays into Africa.   (more…)