Yaw's Blog

Congratulations to Tom Sargent

2012-01-20T03:03:00.003-05:00

I just came back from the New York University dinner gala celebration for Tom Sargent in recognition of his award of the Nobel Prize. It was a really grand affair in the Plaza Hotel - a wonderful old style New York Hotel with an elegant ballroom. In his speech, Tom gave an interesting comparison of the crisis in Europe to the founding of the US. (Click here for paper.) This probably has some insights for the African Union. Tom spoke about the founding of the United States, the debts held by states versus the central government and the very formation of the United States. Like Europe, the US at Independence had a weak central government and strong states. At some point the states had lots of debts, many went belly up, and in negotiations over
this a much stronger central government emerged. Later, in the constitution, states were then forced to have balanced budgets. Alexander Hamilton figures in these conversations as the forceful personality enabling strong decisions to be made. Parallels with Europe today are obvious. I am going to promise myself to read more about this subject. I am of course really curious about the African Union, especially attempts by some of the regional bodies to impose currency and eventually economic unions, as for example with ECOWAS for West Africa. The current European crisis and the connection with the US at its independence is relevant to the African debates. Perhaps we can get Tom to focus some of his wisdom there. Anyway, congratulations Tom! Your values and humility are really inspiring to all of us.

Dance, Laugh, Drink. Save the Date: It's a Ghanaian Funeral.

2011-04-13T00:23:00.000-04:00

NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/nyregion/12funerals.html?ref=africa

Kgalema Mothlante at NYU - says Ouattara won election

2011-03-29T05:47:00.000-04:00

pic from mail and Guardian

The Vice President of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlante, stopped by NYU for a public lecture co-sponsored by Africa House. As with most events, the really interesting things happen during the Q & A. One questioner asked why it seems South Africa has been flip flopping so much on Ivory Coast. (The Economist described SA's foreign policy as "All over the Place" , focusing on SA's stance on Libya).

The VP's response was revealing - and went something like this. The electoral commission, made up of representatives of all the political parties, declared Ouattara the winner, as has most of the international community. The constitutional council, made up of the incumbent Gbagbo supporters looked into Gbagbo's claim that two of the areas had irregularities. After studying this, it was realized that those two areas would not tip the balance in favor of Gbagbo. The constitutional council then decided to look on their own into even more areas, clearly to keep looking until they could nullify enough votes to change the outcome. However, by law the constitutional council only has the mandate to reject or accept an election. It was the constitutional court which declared Gbagbo the winner - which was unconstitutional.

So there you have it. SA says Outtara won, and Gbagbo lost!

Why is this important? Many of my closest friends support Gbagbo as a man of the masses standing up to western domination. They invoke the believed support of the likes of South Africa's Zuma and JJ Rawlings of Ghana to suggest that Gbagbo may have actually won the election.

A few other comments. What a humble man. He had a soft personality, and a pleasing charisma and charm to him. He is the one responsible for SA's 2010 World Cup. He big request for help is in the area of education and skills development and also infrastructure (does anyone have a few billion dollars spare?)

Perhaps the funniest moment was when he was talking about Soweto. An Afrikaans rugby team had to find a substitute stadium to play in at the last minute. Soweto has been recently upgraded with paved roads everywhere, nice parks and gardens, and now a destination point for many middle class suburbanites. The team, with some players who had never set foot in a township before, seemed to love Soweto - one important bonus was that the beer is much much cheaper than in their usual Pretoria digs.

Other people on the trip were the Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, the Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, and several other ministers, the SA Ambassador and Consul General to the US.

Further Comments on Ending Bribery

2011-02-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

For a follow-up on Ending Corruption in Africa, and reflections on issues brought up by the Anas Aremeyaw Anas video (click here) see this paper below by my good friend and colleague Atsu Amegashie, an economist at U. Guelph in Canada.

Kafo Didi: Living Large but Producing very Little
J. Atsu Amegashie
February 11, 2011

Conventional wisdom strongly suggests that corruption is a way of life in Ghana. There is perhaps no Ghanaian of adult age who has never paid a bribe for a government service.

About 28.5% of households in Ghana live on less than $2 a day. Recently revised and favorable figures by the Ghana Statistical Service show that the country’s per capita GDP is not more than $1500; the IMF’s figure (PPP) is $1600.

How are people expected to live in a country where the average income is $1600, credit markets are very weak or inaccessible to most people, and yet people must make two-year advance payments of about $2000 or more for a decent apartment? The cost of living is very high in Ghana. We are not producing enough. Our GDP is very low. Yet that does not deter many Ghanaians from living large. There are only two ways of living large when you don’t produce enough: (1) borrow (what you have not produced); or (2) steal (what you have not produced): corruption.

Most people in the western world go for the first option. This is because they have well developed credit markets and are integrated in global credit markets; their banks can raise funds on international credit markets (e.g., borrow from China by issuing financial securities). Of course, the recent financial crisis has shown that this not a sustainable plan. You cannot borrow forever. In countries like Ghana where credit markets are very weak or not easily accessible, most people choose to steal what they have not produced (corruption). And, in most cases, they do so by stealing from the state.This means that resources required for crucial public investments in human capital (i.e., education, health care), roads, law and order, etc end up in hands of private individuals (politicians, civil servants) orporations, etc. This creates a vicious circle where the lack of these investments reduces the economy’s productive capacity which, in turn, creates the conditions that exacerbate the incentive to steal. Differences in law enforcement and monitoring also account for the differences in orruption. However, the lack of credit can also force people to find corrupt ways of making ends meet.

Foreign aid, a different form of borrowing, may help. But it is not enough and rarely ends up in the hands of those who really need it; note that the USA’s MCA aid of $547 over 5 years was approximately $5 per Ghanaian. More importantly, foreign aid has the deleterious effect of redirecting energies from domestic sources of revenue mobilization to foreign sources. This is evident in the recent revelations that emerged from Anas Aremeyaw’s undercover work “Enemies of the nation.” If foreign aid is a gift, it makes us lazy and overly dependent on it and if it is a loan, then we still have to produce enough to consume and have something left over to repay the loan. Dependence on foreign aid is not the path to economic prosperity.

Theft can be legal or illegal. When theft is legal, it is euphemistically referred to as rent-seeking, a term coined by Anne Krueger of Stanford University and former chief economist of the World Bank. Political lobbying may be legal but it may still be a corrupt behavior. Government regulations that redistribute income from one group to another but reduce an economy’s output of goods and services are examples of rent-seeking. In a 1974 article, Anne Krueger provided quantitative estimates of the social losses imposed on the economies of India and Turkey by rent-seeking for import licences from the state. According to her estimates, such losses amounted in 1964 to 7.3 per cent of the national income of India and to a staggering 15 per cent of the national income of Turkey. While rent-seeking activity exists in every economy, it is worse in economies with a weak private sector and a public sector that is the major employer. In these economies, it leads to a misallocation of talent because some of the best and brightest end up being sycophants and rent-seekers in the public sector rather than competing in the private sector. Others vote with their feet by leaving the country.

In poor and very unequal societies, the return to social status is very high. Ghana has both: a high level of poverty and a high level of inequality. Unfortunately, this creates the right conditions for a poverty trap because in societies with higher levels of poverty, the emphasis on material-driven status -- when it financed from public coffers --- is relatively more counter-productive. A very high return on social status is likely to induce professors, doctors, engineers, and other high-ability individuals to invest more in directly unproductive rent-seeking activities like lobbying, and networking with the political elites as part of wealth redistribution (i.e., get their piece of the national pie).

The phenomenon of living large but producing very little is more likely in countries with strong extended families. In his 1955 book, “the theory of economic growth”, the Carribean economist and nobel aureate, the late W.Arthur Lewis remarked that: “Where the extended family system exists, any member of the family whose income increases may be besieged by correspondingly increased demands for support from a large number of distant relations … A strong sense of family obligation ... may cause a man to appoint relatives to jobs for which they are unsuited ...” (Lewis 1955, p. 114).

The above sentiment must resonate with most successful Ghanaians. This pressure from the family may also cause them to steal from the state or from their employer in the private sector. It may be fear rather than affection for their family members which drives them to nepotism and theft (corruption). This point was made by Jean-Philippe Platteau in his 2000 book “Institutions, Social Norms, and Economic Development”,

“… principles of equity are so adverse to change [that] a single individual, even when endowed with special qualities and powerful psychological resources, cannot successfully defy the conventions of the society. He will unavoidably … be squashed by various forms of opposition, especially when his economic success depends on his behavior as a hardnosed businessman in dealing with fellow tribesmen. To break through, he needs the protection afforded by the deviant actions of a sufficient number of other innovators in his locality. Rising economic opportunities alone will usually not suffice to generate dynamic entrepreneurs in the absence of a critical mass of cultural energies harnessed towards countering social resistance.”

Related to the previous point is a useful idea stressed by Jean-Philippe Platteau in his aforementioned book. It is the distinction between limited versus generalized morality. In hierarchical societies, codes of good conduct and honest behavior are often confined to small circles of related people (members of the family, or of the clan). Outside of this small network, opportunistic and highly selfish behavior is regarded as natural and morally acceptable. In contrast, modern democratic societies tend to have abstract rules of good conduct that are applicable to many social situations, and not just in a small network of personal friends and relatives. As argued by Weber, the emancipation of the individual from feudal arrangements has typically been associated with a diffusion of generalized morality, and with the ability to identify oneself with a society of abstract individuals who are entitled to specific rights. This engenders nation building and, with reasonable law enforcement, reduces the incentive to steal from the state, and induces people to enter into credit contracts and other contracts with strangers.

It has been argued that in most sub-Saharan African countries, the kin system is a valuable institution that provides critical community goods and insurance services in the absence of market or public provision. However, the nature of risk-sharing and insurance are different from how these institutions are commonly understood in modern economics. In each period, the participants in an insurance market typically pool their risks (i.e., contribute to the insurance fund) before the state of the world is known (who will be lucky or fortunate; who will be in a car accident or not; who will be unemployed or not; etc). In the insurance scheme of the extended family or kinship system, no risks or contributions are pooled before the state of the world is known and once the state of the world is revealed (i.e., a relative has a good job), everyone else depends on him/her. This has helped many hard-working Ghanaians. But in most cases, it appears that it has been abused. While most participants in insurance schemes in modern economies take their actions behind a Rawlsian “veil of ignorance”, the insurance schemes of the extended family system are driven by a “veil of full knowledge.”

In Ghana and most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, most of our problems are typically chicken-or-egg problems. Solving such problems requires some a lot of discipline. Given that we are not producing enough for all, we have to change our values by not trying to live large; too many people want SUVs; want to pay the fees of their kids for an education in a western country; afford big houses and vacations abroad; etc. We cannot reap what we have not sown. We have to invest, be patient, and wait for the fruits of our labor to grow. But doing so requires a demonstration by our leaders that they are in the same boat with us or that their boat is not too big and cozy. Why do our leaders seek medical attention abroad (in Western countries) while they refuse to invest enough resources in our domestic health system? Foreign hospitals for the elites but ill-equipped and under-staffed local hospitals for the masses?

During their tenure in office, government officials like the president and some ministers of state enjoy so many perks; some do not pay taxes, do not pay for their accommodation, electricity, transportation, healthcare, clothing and security. They are also paid a decent salary with enviable bonuses and per diems. Yet when ex-president Kuffour left office in 2009, he wanted six cars, two houses, a luxury holiday package, a lifelong health package, security personnel, $1 million for a foundation, and many more. Is this sheer wickedness? When his predecessor, JJ Rawlings left office in January 2001, he moved into the now ravaged mansion at Ridge by merging two government bungalows. He is alleged to have taken 13 cars with him. He has his own mansion at Agyirigano, a suburb of Accra, but wants the state to accommodate him. Everyone is trying to raid the “commons.”

We care too much about social class and status, especially status that is based on material wealth. Our politicians care about being above everybody. In the western world, the richest people are in the private sector and the politicians do not dream of competing with them nor do they see it as a sign of lower status. They cannot afford the cars and houses that these people in the private sector can afford. In Ghana and other parts of Africa, the politician wants to earn more than or be in the same class as the businessmen, CEOs, and other professionals in the private sector. A friend in Ottawa (Canada) rides the bus with the Governor of the Bank of Canada. When US vice-president John Biden was a member of the senate, he took the train to work. Even if the public transport system is good, I do not think that a professor, governor of the central bank, or minister of state in Ghana could take the bus or train to work without public ridicule. One former official of Ghana, whose name I have forgotten, justified the practice of allowing ministers to retire with state cars on the grounds that ex-ministers should not use the same means of transportation as the public. The attitudes of our leaders and are own attitudes reinforce each other. How many Ghanaians wouldn’t laugh at a former minister of state if his car was below the average quality of cars in Ghana? How many will praise him for his selflessness and unassuming lifestyle if he lived in a modest two bedroom apartment? We, the people, have to respect and honor those who lead a modest life, work hard, and not glorify theft. We are part of the problem.

The fight against corruption requires a non-partisan approach; it should not be politicized. The test should not be which party did marginally better than the other. The benchmark should not be what the other party did. Instead, it must be a high level of demonstrable commitment to fight corruption from the top to the bottom. Let’s produce more and stop living large. In the era of accountability and responsibility, Kutu Acheampong’s “Kafo didi” should not be our guiding principle. When we produce very little but live large, we are, to borrow the words of the dancehall musicians Bounty Killer and Barrington Levy, “living dangerously”.

How to End Corruption at the Ports in Africa- A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

2011-02-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

A Ghanaian reporter has captured the attention of Ghanaians in the past few days. Anas Aremeyaw Anas has produced a video showing the extent of corruption in Ghana (see these videos- broken up into 4 parts).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyxQBEkcSPw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nouELdVAqxc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69iOMp_JUZ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpsPRMtsHmU

This has resulted in a lot of excited engagement from Ghana's President (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed57WhR5ouQ), who is otherwise a very bland speaker (see this in comparison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3KSgOt4zMA&NR). Whatever one thinks of Anas (and there are rumours he may have been on the government payroll), it appears that his one video will have much more of an effect than the zillions of reports and academic papers. My only problem with all of this is that the president sounds too much like a father scolding his errant children. Dad, I mean Mr. President--what you should do is announce that the Law Enforcement officers are going to have a continuous stream of undercover or sting operations, and all those caught from now on will be getting prison sentences, with assets confiscated and big fines imposed.

Ivory Coast – The Contrarian View

2010-12-19T23:54:00.000-05:00

Almost every international body has condemned the incumbent and presumed loser of the recent Ivory Coast election: the African Union, the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), the UN, many African countries, etc. On the other hand, many of my own African friends and colleagues have voiced alternative views. They have two main arguments. The first the assertion that there may have been widespread election fraud in the North, as asserted by incumbent and presumed loser, Laurent Gbagbo. The that the margins of victory for the opposition in various constituencies of the North, it is claimed, are too high to be believable, and in many places the voter registers were too large to inspire confidence in the process.

The second part which bothers many is the belief that Ouattara is in the pocket of the French, who are exploiting the country unfairly. As illustrations of the French connection, they point to the fact that Ouattara’s wife is French, and that it was Nicolas Sarkozy who performed the marriage ceremony when he was mayor.

The French have an uneasy relationship with Gbagbo. I believe that around 2003, while Gbagbo was in power, there was a bombing by an Ivorian plane which killed one French soldier. In retaliation, the French destroyed the entire Ivorian Air Force.

Anyway, we continue to wish the people of Ivory Coast the best, as we watch the tragedy unfolds. For a good exposition on the contrarian view, see this Sahara Reporters article.

Ivory Coast – Declare Victory and Rule

2010-12-16T00:26:00.000-05:00

In my earlier post on Ivory Coast, I praised the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for their boldness in suspending Ivory Coast from their bodies to protest the fact that the incumbent would not agree to leave. Perhaps this was the wrong thing for the AU and ECOWAS to do. Perhaps they should have kept Ivory Coast in and just recognize the winner of the poll – Allasane Ouattara. Ouattara has asked governments to only recognize ambassadors he appoints, and he has asked the regional central bank, the BCEAO, to only respect his instructions regarding monetary issues and central bank transfers in Ivory Coast. In an interesting blog post, Todd Moss at the Center for Global Development asks that one more door be shut to the incumbent and loser. Todd and others argue in their post that Britain, France and the US, the main trading partners with Ivory Coast, should not honor any debts incurred by the incumbent government of Laurent Gbagbo. This will mean Gbagbo can not borrow any money or ask foreign companies to pay up front for business concessions, thereby enabling him to survive financially. If all these doors are closed to Gbagbo, Allasane Ouattara can declare victory and rule – which he is precisely what his game plan. Perhaps the AU and ECOWAS should enable Outtara to do just that.

Ivory Coast - Just Say No to the Incumbent and Loser of the Election

2010-12-12T13:25:00.001-05:00

From all the information coming in, the opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara and his party clearly won the recent presidential elections in Cote D'Ivoire. The incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo lost, so should concede, and hand over power. Thabo Mbeki , the African Union (AU) mediator and former South African President should tell Gbagbo that, NO, he can not stay in power. No, he should not hope for a Kenya style power sharing agreement, for that would set an awful precedent on the continent. No, Gbagbo should not be pandered to, and allowed to hang on, as then all incumbents all over the continent upon losing elections will wait for an AU mediator.

It looks like things are on the right track. The AU has suspended Ivory Coast from the body. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Ivory Coast. The UN security council also thrown its support to Ouattara. President Obama has condemned Gbagbo. Ivory Coast shares a common currency, the CFA Franc, with several other African countries with a common issuing Central bank, the BCEAO, which has been asked to only honor orders from the Outtara group. There should be no excuses. Gbagbo must concede and leave. Let us see what happens next.

My rumblings on the BBC about the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's)

2010-10-18T03:34:00.000-04:00

I was interviewed by the BBC, together with Olav Kjørven, Assistant Secretary General and Director of Development Policy at the UN Development Program. I listened to the mp3 file, it is the abridged version and I sound really in a bad mood. Maybe because it was 3am in Abu Dhabi? Maybe my real feelings about Aid and the MDGs? Ah well. Anyway, here is the 5 minute interview (it was aired at 0500 GMT on the 20th of September, 2010).

Some humor for my Intro to Econ Students in Abu Dhabi

2010-10-04T07:06:00.001-04:00

Fear the boom and bust – Keynes versus Hayek

and

Stand Up Economist (from Greg Mankiw's Blog)

Mark Twain, Diamonds in Africa and a Fantastic Insider Trading Story

2010-08-23T18:53:00.117-04:00

I have recently finished reading Mark Twain's "Following the Equator." The writing is of course wonderful - what a joy. Twain writes about his journey around the equator around 1896, and provides very insightful observations about the locals and western attitudes to the locals. There are a number of stories I particularly liked and which he told with great humor: the discovery of diamonds in South Africa and a fantastic insider trading story associated with Cecil Rhodes.
The story of the discovery of diamonds in Africa is often told and, as I remember it from Mark Twain's account, is one where a child discovers the stone but uses it as a toy; a farmer tries to buy it from the child thinking it indeed to be a toy but one which could be sold to some unsuspecting fool for more, but that it was that farmer who was the fool as he sells it for far less than it was really worth.
As far as I have been able to determine, the facts on the diamond discovery are as follows: the story begins in 1867 with a child discovering a big clear stone in his garden while playing. A Boer farmer, Daniel Jacobs, had a son who was playing with "a small white stone which sparkled so in the sun" that nearby neighbor Schalk van Niekirk offered to buy it^[2]. Not believing it to be worth anything, the stone was given to him for free, and Niekirk took it to a travelling trader, John Reilly to get an appraisal. Reilly did not believe it to be a diamond, but after showing it around to various merchants, he had enough doubts to send it to the leading mineralogist of Cape Colony, Dr. W Guybon Atherstone, who then verified that the stone was indeed a diamond, and placed a value of £500 on it. Upon Atherstone's valuation, the diamond was sent over to the Paris Exposition where it 'created interest but no great sensation')^[3]. The diamond was then bought by a Philip E Wodehouse, the governor of Cape Colony, for the same estimated price of £500 ($79,000)^[4]. I do much prefer the fun and excitement in the Mark Twain account though – with different traders thinking they are fooling others, when they are themselves are the ones being fooled. The truth is still interesting. In the book, Mark Twain also muses about why the local Africans in the area did not have much use for those stone in those days and did not "discover" their use earlier, and provides very colorful accounts of the Boers^[5].
There is a second related story in the book I really enjoyed. This is associated with Cecil Rhodes, whose company De Beers of course eventually monopolized a big part of the World's diamond trade, is the founder of the Rhodes Scholarships and who lived between 1853 and 1902 ^[8]. Mark Twain writes
that while in Australia Rhodes sees a shark washed up on the shore discovered by a fisherman. He proceeds to buy the shark, and cut it open. Inside, he finds a copy of the European newspaper from ten days prior, learned that war was at hand and was able to invest in wool before anyone else knew^[9]. Cecil Rhodes then uses this "insider" information to make the first of his many fortunes. When I first read this, I thought this would be a great insider trading story for the undergraduate Econ class I am about to teach. Unfortunately for those of us who love great stories, I believe this story is fictional; the only other sources that we have been able to find that support this tale are footnoted, and each of these refer to Mark Twain's account as the primary source.
I recommend the book for those looking for great stories, and great observations of local Indian, Australian and African customs and people from the late 1800's and, of course, for really exciting writing.

Footnotes
1. I thank Beatrice Choi at NYU for great research assistance with this article.
2."About the History of South African Diamond Discoveries". “About the History of South African Diamond Discoveries”. JJKent Inc, Online, 2004. Online: http://www.jjkent.com/articles/southafrica-diamond-discoveries.htm.
3."About the History of South African Diamond Discoveries".
4."Diamond in Africa". Swiecki, Rafal. “Diamond in South Africa: Historical Review of Diamond Geology and Mining”. Website: Alluvial Exploration and Mining, February 2008. Online: http://www.minelinks.com/alluvial/diamondGeology23.html.
5."Star of Africa". There is a second diamond story similar to this first diamond discovery story - the same Schalk van Niekirk is connected with the “Star of South Africa”, an 83 ½ carat stone he obtained from a Kaffir in 1869 . The first diamond sold to Wodehouse was a stone of 21 3/16 carats.
6. Verschoyle, F. Cecil Rhodes: His Political Life and Speeches, 1881-1900. Pg. 2. UK: Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1900. Online: http://books.google.com/
7. Sweet, Matthew. “Cecil Rhodes: A bad man in Africa”. The Independent, 03/16/2002. UK. Online Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/cecil-rhodes-a-bad-man-in-africa-654195.html.
8."Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarship". “Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarship”. UK: Oxford University. Brochure. Online: www.rhodesscholar.org/get/11/2010_final_brochure_7_6_10.pdf.
9."Shark History". Website: Shark History: Devil Sharks and God Sharks. Online: http://www.shark-info.com/shark-history/devil-sharks-and-god-sharks.htm. See also: http://www.sharkattacks.com/historical.htm

Portfolio's of the Poor - Book by my colleague Jonathan Morduch and others

2010-06-19T22:38:00.007-04:00

I just made a pitch in a video for the great book "Portfolio's of the Poor" by my colleague Jonathan Morduch and others. It is great to have the poor of the world being treated as ordinary and everyday real people - making the best of bad infrastructure, lack of financial institutions and, of course, poverty. Too many portrayals make the poor seem like aliens from another planet. The book tracks individuals over time and records their decisions - primarily savings and financial decisions. It is great, it is about real people. I enjoyed reading it.

Kwame the Cabby, Brain Drain and Health

2010-02-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

I took a cab this morning – it was a Ghanaian taxi driver. He remembered picking me up several years ago. What a memory he has. Anyway, he has 4 children, two older ones one of which is a doctor. He also has two younger kids in private school. All his kids seem to be doing exceptionally well, and he is paying for elite schooling from his taxi driver salary. Many have spoken about the positive effects of the brain drain. Kwame, this morning’s cabby, made those arguments real to me. Why do we never consider the benefits to the migrant when talking about the African brain drain? (See AidWatch blog.) I was so proud of all of Kwame's successes from what I know is an extremely difficult job.

Anyway, Kwame said he is glad to see me, but he nearly died this year. “Died?” I asked, not sure I heard him clearly through all the Manhattan traffic. Yes, he explained, he got malaria while in Ghana; it was cerebral malaria which was not properly treated.

I will be at dinner with the Minister of Health for Ghana this evening. I should tell the Minister that Kwame believes something should be done about the open sewers in the country and there should be more spraying (of insecticides) as was the case in the Nkrumah era.

I finally got off the taxi, and left a huge tip. I felt very proud of Kwame as I thought of his 4 children educated off his taxi earning. I also reminded myself to redo the calculations on the pluses and minuses of the Brain Drain to account for the Kwame’s.

Could the Brain Drain be Good for Africa?

2010-02-17T22:42:00.001-05:00

Laura Freschi at The Aidwatchers blog just wrote a nice piece about my paper on the Brain Drain with Bill Easterly (http://aidwatchers.com/2010/02/four-ways-brain-drain/). The aidwatchers blog is the first I read each day, written by my Bill and Laura Freschi. Enjoy their blog – it is great.

It’s Education, Stupid

2010-02-16T22:15:00.003-05:00

Bill Clinton coined the phrase “It’s the Economy, Stupid” as a campaign slogan when running against George Bush, Snr. The Mayor of Accra (see my blog from yesterday), Hon. Alfred Vanderpuye has made Education the center of his plans for the city of Accra. He talks very passionately about the fact that elementary school students in Accra are being shortchanged on their education because of the shift system. I presume this is the fact that there are two shifts for students which causes two kinds of problems. First, students are not getting enough hours of schooling – he wants to get the hours to 8 per day from the current 4. Second, since there are different shifts students are able to conceal the fact that they have not been in school at all for the day, in either shift.

Could it be that many of the problems of Accra, perhaps of Ghana, are due to the low levels of education of substantial numbers of people? Will there be a big impact on the economy when the Mayors future cohorts of 8-hour a day students hit the job market? Well, all that remains to be seen. This Mayor has placed his bets on this. As a seasoned politician, I suspect he knows that this will go over very well with the Accra residents (and therefore, ultimate, his electorate). So, perhaps indeed it’s Education, stupid.

My breakfast meeting with the mayor of Accra

2010-02-15T23:52:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow morning I will be at a breakfast meeting with his Excellency the mayor of Accra, the capital of Ghana and the city of my youth. If there is any city I identify with, other than New York where I currently live, it is Accra where I was born and raised, and lived through and after college.

There was a time I thought it would be really cool to be the mayor of Accra. The city is large, and complex, and a whole lot of fun. Ghanaians are always laughing, cracking jokes and making fun of each other. The highlife nightclubs in Accra are really lots of fun. It is one of the safest cities I know - I drive through the city regularly at very late hours feeling extremely safe and comfortable. So, I figured at the time, Accra would be a manageable entity, fun, and yet a place where you could possibly do extremely well by the residents. It would be a great place to be mayor.

Accra is a city of, I hear, some 2 or 3 million people. A large city, but not a mega city like many others – Mexico City, Mumbai, or even Nairobi. Because almost all the building are have one, two or three floors, the city is extremely manageable.

Anyway, back to the mayor I am having breakfast with tomorrow. He is Alfred Vanderpuye, a member of the ruling National Democratic Party of Ghana. What are some of the things I should say to him tomorrow?

First, in coming to the US, he should continually remind himself (and his hosts) that Accra is a culturally rich, colorful and vibrant city. It is my favorite city. Too often African leaders come to the US hoping to get some kind of charity and completely destroy the image of Africa. So, Honorable Mayor, please do not do this to the city of my birth. Please tell the people of America about the great things about the city. It is peaceful – there is no war going on in Accra! Serious, I am sure you will be asked this. Some parts of Accra are really gorgeous – the old colonial style houses in Cantoments and Airport residential area; the beautiful waters of the Atlantic Ocean; the fishing areas of Jamestown.

On the other hand, as you, Honorable Mayor, know very well, there is a lot to be done in the city. I will stay away from some of the larger national issues – water, electricity and general poverty of large sections of the population. Here is a list of some of the things I believe that you, as mayor, should and can do.

a. Clean up the city: I am told that Kigali, the capital of Rwanda is now one of the cleanest cities in Africa, perhaps the world, because of conscious efforts at the top (like banning the use of plastic disposable bags). The lonely planet, one of the authoritative guidebooks for tourists said that Accra is "Ugly, chaotic, sprawling and completely indifferent to its waterfront location." So, honorable mayor, please spruce up the city. On that note, here is my second request:
b. Can someone explain why the gutters in Accra are not covered? I was told there is a scientific reason for this – or is it purely financial? It really is an eyesore, probably a breeding ground for mosquitoes and many other creatures which will remain nameless. My untrained mind says – "gutters already built, city close to Atlantic Ocean, so why are the gutters so disgusting?" Lee Kuan Yew, the big Man of Singapore, mentions in his autobiography that one of the first things he did to bring business to the country was to clean it up. I am sure the residents of Accra would also really appreciate not having to smell that Accra gutter smell.
c. Another theme from Lee Kuan Yew: how about a greening campaign for the city – build lots of trees and plants everywhere. Yes, it is so surprising that the city in a damp tropical area is often so incredibly dusty. I know, I am beginning to sound so bourgeois and this will be a hard sell for your residents. Yet, Nana Konadu Rawlings, the former First Lady has been a big champion of this for years. Singapore is an incredibly clean city, part of which is due to the greening campaign. And, Honorable mayor, do not forget that this is also good for tourism and for foreign investment, and, most importantly for the residents of Accra!
d. Back to those nightclubs: Why not start a highlife carnival in Accra, to put the spotlight on Ghanaian and African music. We have a wonderful heritage in music, and I think this could be something that would attract lots of tourists which in turn would generate income for your city's residents. It could also help the local music industry which is currently focused too much on hiplife (rap music in the local language), which probably could use some infusion of new ideas from Ghana's past.

So, Honorable Mayor, above are a few easy schemes for you. If you really get ambitious how about designing an accessible heart of Accra, with areas where people can freely walk without getting hit by cars – a downtown, or central area with bars and clubs? Think of a larger and more indigenous version of Accra's Oxford Street. Anyway, see you tomorrow, Honorable Mayor.