The new Cheetah generation is a new breed of Africans who brook no nonsense about corruption; they understand what accountability and democracy are; they’re not going to wait for governments to do things for them; and Africa’s salvation rests on their backs, according to George Ayittey, a Ghanaian economist, who spoke at the TED conference in Arusha in June 2007.
In contrast, the hippo generation are the ruling elites, stuck in their intellectual patch, complaining about imperialism and colonialism. They are not interested in reforming the economies because they benefit from the rotten status quo. Helping Africa is noble, but it has been turned into a theatre of the absurd. It is like the blind leading the clueless. Africa’s begging bowl leaks. Corruption costs Africa $148 billion a year. Capital flight out of Africa costs $80 billion a year. $20 billion is spent annually on imported food. In the 1960s Africa not only fed itself, it also exported food.
In traditional Africa, the means of production is privately owned by extended families. The extended family pool their resources and decide what to do and what to produce. Independence granted ruling elites powers to distort the system. The way forward for Africa, according to Ayittey, is to bypass the governments and reinvigorate the informal and traditional sectors.