George Ayittey

Birth	c. 1947 (age 61–62)
Nationality	Ghana
Institution	American University
Field	Political economics
Alma mater	University of Manitoba University of Western Ontario University of Ghana

George Ayittey is a prominent Ghanaian economist, author and president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington DC. He is a professor at American University and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has championed the argument that "Africa is poor because she is not free", that the primary cause of African poverty is less a result of the oppression and mismanagement by colonial powers, but rather a result of modern oppressive native autocrats. He also goes beyond criticism to advocate for specific ways to address the abuses of the past and present; specifically he calls for democratic government, debt reexamination, modernized infrastructure, free market economics, and free trade to promote development.

Dr. Ayittey was listed by The Foreign Policy as one of the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" in 2008 who "are shaping the tenor of our time".

His books include Africa Unchained: the blueprint for development, Africa in Chaos, The Blue Print of Ghana's Economic Recovery and Africa Betrayed.

Ayittey holds a B.Sc. from the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; an M.A. from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; and a Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. He lives in Lorton, Virginia.

[edit] References

• The Free Africa Foundation
• Faculty page at American University
• Bio at A World Connected
• TED Talks: George Ayittey on Cheetahs vs. Hippos at TED Global in 2007
• Human Rights: Africa's Shady Politicians Are at Root of Continent's Destitution, commentary by Dr. Ayittey
• Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Africa's Future by George Ayittey, at Amazon.com
• New York Times Book Review of Africa In Chaos by George Ayittey, reviewed by Jeremy Harding
• Top 100 Public Intellectuals by the Foreign Policy

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