The New Scramble for AfricaBy Padraig Carmody (Polity)
It’s no exaggeration to say that I loved this book. In fact, it is probably the best non-fiction book on Africa I have read.
While we all hear a lot of about Africa in the media, it is often in relation to conflict, medical issues such as Aids, or environmental ones such as deforestation. Not only does this very specific concentration give people in Europe a pretty warped view of the place, the economic realities underpinning many of these issues are rarely widely discussed.
Yet the fact that economics play a pivotal and even dictatorial role in all other social issues is something few international relations experts would deny. This book finally brings the economics of Africa to light for the general public.
The topics covered range from the large role played by Chinese enterprises in many African states’ economies to oil exploitation in Angola, fishery rights on the west African coast and biofuel production in Mozambique.
What sets this work miles apart from other similar forays is that author Padraig Carmody, a lecturer in geography, actually understands international relations. That isn’t praise I gave lightly, because most people who write this sort of thing don’t seem to have a clear handle on basic logic, instead preferring to wallow around in fluffy platitudes, unable to find one sharp point in their entire ream of subject matter.
Carmody, in contrast, has a bang-on grasp on what makes international relations tick over and thus on what constitutes a relevant fact.
Therefore it’s no surprise that the information in this book is laid out with a clarity that is rarely achieved, cushioned on a bed of fascinating background information. I love reading something that doesn’t just talk about the pros and cons of biofuel, but also tells me what kinds of plants biofuel is actually generated from. It speaks for a practicality that runs through the entire book and makes it a jargon-free joy to read.
Personally, I was sold from page one by the excellent information regarding the continuing economic and military interests of erstwhile colonial powers in Africa. When someone knows as much about Franco-Chadian relations as Padraig Carmody does, it’s time to tune in to what else I can learn from them.
The New Scramble for Africa is literally the single most useful book I have ever read about the continent. You’ll get your money’s worth out of this one.
