I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in Africa and wants to know more about the region from the perspective of an African. There are countless books out there written by non-Africans – some of them OK (Africa by Richard Dowden) and some downright racist and entrenched in negative stereotypes (The Shackled Continent by Robert Guest).

Amessa's book explores the various issues facing Africa, the role (or lack of) of leaders in the region, and discusses various possible solutions to help improve development in the region. Overall, an interesting read, long-winded in places, but ultimately an illuminating read.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34449177-saving-africa Apparently this needs to be 100 characters long

First of all, this book pools all the countries in the African continent under 'Africa' and then goes on to diagnose 'problems' and solutions of 'Africa' in such broad strokes (e.g. bad economy can be improved by focussing on industrial growth, farming technology, creating products, tourism, better governance, democracy!) which frankly, exist all over the world but the author makes it seem like these are unique to only 'Africa'! You can actually substitute the name 'Africa' and add UK', 'Japan', 'India', 'Indonesia' and the book would still sound and feel the same! That's how lame / simple-minded it is.

I have mixed feelings about this book.

What I liked:
- The African author (from Cote D'Ivoire but lives in the UK) says that African leaders ought to take responsibility for its problems.
- He doesn't blame foreigners for everything.
- He spends half the book offering solutions.
- "Democracy is a logical and fair method. It is not rocket science and it is not magic either." (Many argue that Africans are too immature/savage for democracy)
- African countries should focus on the agricultural sector first.
- “Neighboring countries envied Côte D’Ivoire. West Africans rely on agriculture, but Houphouët-Boigny’s policies made a difference because the economy was partly operated by private Western agro-industrial companies.


What I didn't like:

- He spends half of the long book documenting Africa's problems. This is not news. A simple four-word summary would suffice: "Africa has many problems."

- The book is repetitive and long-winded.

- He overestimates the importance and benefits of a Parliamentary democracy vs. a Presidential democracy. Or the marvels of "popular democracy" and "federalism." Countries have failed with all these systems - none is a panacea.

- He advocates redrawing the borders.

- He says Africans should "dismiss anything from a foreign culture" and later says that they "must not allow themselves to cut their contact with Western countries" because they need their science and tech. Later, he says, "Africans should accelerate their integration into Western civilization and not reject it." Make up your mind.

- He sometimes makes crazy leaps of faith, skipping the devil in the details. "There's no reason different ethnic groups cannot get on well and live peacefully." Or "Africans need to acquire science and technology one way or another." Easy to say! He adds that Africans should all get a free education. Paying for it is easy, according to him: "political leaders should sacrifice part of their salaries for it."

- "Africans have an inability to understand the Western way of life."


The book's cover makes the grandiose claim that this is a "book that will change the world forever."

Not surprisingly, it doesn't live up to that.

However, it's nice to see that in a sea of complainers, there are a few authors who will focus on solutions instead of spending 90% of their books pointing fingers at all the problems and blaming everyone. That's the main reason I give this flawed book 4 stars.

I'll leave you with a memorable excerpt:

“It was during colonization that many technical and scientific methods of the West, an integral part of modern life, were taught to Africans. Today, entire social infrastructures and administration are derived from colonization. There are schools, for example, where everyone learns their country’s official language.”

“Modern medicine, with its advantage over African medicine, has been introduced in African during the period of colonization. So were efficient agricultural tools and techniques. Some African countries can process their raw materials, which results from colonization. Paved roads, railway, vehicles, aircraft, shipping, telephone, the Internet, radio, television, and the media is everywhere, even if they are badly managed. All these were Western innovations. Religion, music, and sport are all results of colonization.
“It would be unfair of Africans not to recognize that their life today is a result of colonization. They must admit that their poor quality of life is because their political leaders failed to take over the governments after colonization. One would have thought that Africa would one day be able to work wonders as a result of the influence of Western culture on their society, as did Japan and other Far East countries. The Japanese did not skimp on resources nor did they spend years whining about their suffering. They made good use of American influence, while at the same time keeping their culture too. China has done the same.” (Loc 4854)


DISCLOSURE: I had an advanced copy to do an honest review.

I was taken by the title of this book, because one, I am an African and two, I reside on the continent. The history of African countries are unique, but the one thing you'll find in most save a few like, Ethiopia and Liberia, is that we were colonized and the post-colonial governance has not been all we thought it'd be.
This book explores all that and more and I did agree when he said that at the root of our underdevelopment, corruption and most civil wars are our leaders and their leadership mindset.
I know not, if it's possible to save Africa, as the title suggests, but I believe in writing a new narrative of Africa. There are young African change makers who are doing this in their art, civic leadership and businesses.
I received an advance digital copy of the book from NetGalley and though reading the book saddened me because there's still a lot to do,miles to cover in transforming the leadership and the mindsets of the people to ensure that we do prosper as a continent.