Interrogating the Political Economy of Africa Rising: Who Are the “African Tigers”?

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa has for the most part been the least developed region of the world. The region is often easily dismissed as backward and unable to channel its potentials to actual progress. At the wake of the new millennium, the narrative changed to a hopeful one, with an optimistic standpoint on the economic prospects based on the assumption that the region is on a “take-off” verge. As a result of the change in narrative, there has been a gradual renewed interest by investors, businesses and multinational companies which had hitherto withdrawn or completely stayed away from the region. This recent development, therefore, necessitates a closer examination of the changing narrative and the nature of the economic growth experienced by the region. This chapter traces the economic growth trajectory of the region since the independence era, interrogates the inclusiveness and productivity, as well as tries to identify the dynamics of the drivers of the changing narrative.