Architects of Poverty | Moeletsi Mbeki | Pan Macmillan South Africa

An estimated one billion people in the world are trapped in a cycle of grinding poverty — and a disproportionate number of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. But why?

In Architects of Poverty, Moeletsi Mbeki offers an innovative, unflinching, and deeply challenging analysis of Africa’s plight — and arrives at a conclusion that implicates not the mass of Africa’s people, but its rulers. It is the political elites, Mbeki argues, who contrive to keep their fellow citizens poor while enriching themselves — the true architects of the continent’s poverty.

Concentrating mainly on South Africa — his country of birth — and Zimbabwe — his home during his years in exile — Mbeki tells a searing tale of lost opportunities and extinguished hopes. But Architects of Poverty is not only a diagnosis: alongside his candid exposé of the problem, Mbeki offers concrete suggestions for what needs to be done to break the stranglehold of Africa’s political elites on power, and to set sub-Saharan Africa once more on the road to development.

Key Themes

• Political elites and inequality — a bold and evidence-based argument that Africa’s poverty is a political choice, perpetuated by ruling elites who benefit from keeping citizens poor
• South Africa and Zimbabwe — detailed, candid analysis of two countries at the heart of the southern African story — their promise, their failures, and their potential
• Lost opportunities and extinguished hopes — a sobering account of the moments when different choices could have set Africa on a different path, and why those choices were not made
• African development and the road forward — constructive proposals for breaking the cycle of elite capture and placing sub-Saharan Africa on a sustainable path to development
• Power, accountability and governance — a rigorous examination of the relationship between political power, accountability, and economic outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa

About the Author

Moeletsi Mbeki is a South African political economist, businessman, and commentator. He is a deputy chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs and is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most incisive and independent-minded political analysts.

Author: Moeletsi Mbeki
Publisher: Pan Macmillan South Africa
Format: Print
Genre: Non-Fiction / Political Economy / African Studies
ISBN: 9781770101616