Africa

I lived 10 years in Nairobi, Kenya and travelled widely in Africa to 22 different African countries, in East Africa, South Africa, West Africa and North Africa, in the period 1953-1963. I found it very difficult then to form an opinion about Africans, although I liked them very much, especially their hunour and laughter. I have met many of the Kenyan leaders, Kenyatta, Odinga Odinga, Tom Mboya and many more. I have long since accepted that they are as inteligent as we westerners are, and have many brilliant people. However I hate corruption in any form and never liked what I saw happening fairly soon after the colonial administrations left. The book by Richard Downden has helped me form an opinion. He has made me think about what would have been african lifestyle and system if the colonial powers had not pressed them into our form of institutions and democracy, but rather have left them develop their own systems. He pointed our that the corrupt dictators were not necessarily the best of the africans, and often were outsiders. I very much enjoyed reading the book and recommend it to anyone really intereted in Africa. The title "Africa", is very ambitious but justified as far as thie book is concerned.

I have lived in Nigeria for 34 years, and visited several African countries and I can honestly say, Richard Dowden's book encapsulates better than any other I have read the intricacies and nuances of African culture that most ignore or miss all-together! His ability to understand the African mind and African culture is astounding! A must-read for any expatriate who plans to visit Africa, or finds himself posted to an African nation!

A big book that helps to break down what most people consider an unknown continent. It provides a quick synopsis of how things had happened, personalises the overwhelming issues that are so forign to the West and spells the desperation of unknown outcomes. But he also reminds us that most if us don't really see Africa the way Africans see themselves.

This is by far the most balanced analysis on the challenges faced by sub Saharan African societies. It is unpretentious in that the author confesses his limited exposure/ experience (in the few instances) where it matters and provides a dispassionate analysis of his specific experience before he projects those specific community/ country experiences onto the continent or rather the sub Saharan portion of Africa in general. The writer obviously benefits from an extended exposure and dispassionate, unbiased discourse with intelligent indigenes which allows an in depth knowledge of both rural and urban circumstances (both historic & current) of diverse sub Sahara African countries. The author also has the benefit of viewing and experiencing sub Sahara Africa extensively from his Anglo-Saxon value system and you can tell that the narrative is his way of rationalizing multifaceted influences and their projection on current circumstances. Being that I am African myself and have lived in the US and UK for an extended period, as well as traveled and lived in several West, East, and Southern African countries, I agree with a lot of the inferences he draws. The only problems I had were that some parts of the book feel like literally reading from his diary and the impression that the author is consciously or unconsciously magnanimous in discussing Britain's role in creating and bolstering a myriad of problems. Based on the number of 30+ years sub Saharan Africans from East/West/ Central/Southern Africa, whom I have had the need to educate with regards to the source of SSA's woes, I think this book is a MUST HAVE for all sub Sahara Africans and should be recommended reading for all the hapless development professionals who wonder why and how their best efforts may actually be making a bad situation worse. I must confess however that I stumbled across this book a couple of days ago while searching for Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo in the bookstore and I have hardly put it down since. I am currently on the 4th chapter (after 2 days), but this is a most compelling book, which I may likely buy more of, if only to give out as gifts in lieu of relentless questions I have to answer in my profession as a development finance practitioner focused on SSA.

This book is almost 600 pages long, and still feels like an abridged account of Africa. I actually thought it was pretty bold to call the book 'Africa' - like a little boy with a toy gun calling himself a cowboy, so I approached the book expecting to disparage it immediately. Having grown up in some of the countries written about in the book, I realized Dowden had actually lived through it enough to warrant telling the tale. I believe this book far outranks many of the history books on Africa, and should be required reading for all high school kids. Post colonial Africa evokes different types of emotions depending on which side of the railway line you grew up on, so its easy to understand why descendants of the colonialists themselves might not find this an easy read. Dowden places a great deal of the blame for Africa's woes squarely on them and other factors like foreign aid. My opinion is biased because I tend to agree. Those without any type of bias will find the book extremely fascinating. Discovering Africa through Dowden has left me feeling that I should make the same commitment and re-discover the beautiful continent of Africa.