Fantu Cheru. African Renaissance: Roadmaps to the Challenge of Globalization. London: Zed Books/Cape Town: David Phillip, 2002. Distributed by Palgrave USA. xv + 253 pp. References. Index. $25.00. Paper.

Abstract

Fantu Cheru. African Renaissance: Roadmaps to the Challenge of Globalization. London: Zed Books/Cape Town: David Phillip, 2002. Distributed by Palgrave USA. xv + 253 pp. References. Index. $25.00. Paper. In this interesting and easy-to-read book, Fantu Cheru argues that globalization, with its contradictory tendencies, is a complex, irreversible process and that any vision of an 'African Renaissance' must, at the very least, provide a coherent strategy on how to navigate it successfully (xiii). Motivated by what he refers to as the negative climate surrounding views on Africa, Cheru decided to provide a response to this pessimism. Ironically, however, some parts of his book unwittingly reinforce the very pessimism he set out to address. From the outset, Cheru argues that there are no simple solutions to Africa's economic problems, and he recommends commonsense approaches. In his view, the lackluster performance of the IMF/World Bank-engineered reforms stems mostly from the fact that neoliberal reform programs lack historical context. Paradoxically, Cheru's own analysis of the sources of Africa's crisis also lacks such a context. He underscores the hurdles that need to be overcome to realize an African renaissance, hurdles whose core elements can be summed up as dirigisme, rationalism, and preemption. His solutions include democracy and good governance, investment in education, poverty reduction, agricultural development, strong regional integration, managed urbanization and strengthening the urban-rural interface, and maintaining peace and preventing conflict. Notably, the list fails to mention macroeconomic management. Correctly, in my view, Cheru prescribes what he calls a guided embrace of globalization with a commitment through pre-emptive national or regional development strategy and economic policy coordination (xv). Undeniably, he is right to assert that blind surrender or adherence to globalization by African states will not necessarily advance their interests, especially from an equity point of view. Nevertheless, since Cheru aims to address the causes of Africa's economic and social crisis, he should have begun by identifying what he means by this crisis. Had he done so, he would have been able to make a distinction between symptoms and causes. For example, many of the factors he lists as causes of Africa's economic, social, and political crisis are, in and of themselves, symptoms of the crisis. A case in point is the agricultural decline which, whatever its eventual consequences, resulted from policy failures and environmental adversities; it is not a cause of the crisis. …