Ghanaian economist, author and scholar of foreign policy, George Ayittey is renown for his position that “Africa is poor because she is not free.” He maintains that the tyranny of the power-hungry leaders who have hijacked the business of governance across Africa has held the continent down for this long.
In his TED talk, Professor Ayittey (who is clearly the oldest person on this list) talks about a dichotomy between the “cheetahs” – a generation of African leaders who forbid corruption and understand that accountability and democracy are fundamentals of leadership, and the “hippos” – a generation of the ruling elite who are stuck in the past, are neck deep in corruption and have refused to make the necessary reforms or move on with the times.
Ayittey, in his presentation, also hailed indigenous African forms of government that abhorred tyranny, promoted a functional markets system and ensured transparency. He believes that the future of Africa lies with the cheetahs, who would create true wealth on the back of the informal sector, which is where the real opportunities for growth in Africa lie, untapped and waiting to be used.
