Ashesi University hosted a public lecture by Professor David K. Leonard, Dean of International and Area Studies and Professor of Political Science at University of California, Berkeley, on the topic of “Personal Rule, Economic Enclaves and Conflict in Africa”. This was the third in a series of lectures at Ashesi entitled “The Global Economy: Opportunities and Challenges for Ghana.”
Prof. Leonard, who also serves on Ashesi’s Board of Trustees, has been a Berkeley faculty member in the Political Science Department since 1976. Over the years he has served as advisor to the United Nations Development Program, the Food and Agricultural Organization, the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development, the Office for Technology Assessment of the United States Congress and the Government of Kenya.
Prof. Leonard’s lecture focused on issues raised in his forthcoming book titled Africa’s Stalled Development: International Causes and Cures, including the role that weak states, political systems of personal rule, reliance on enclave exports, debt, and aid dependence each play in creating deep disincentives to development. His analysis and recommendation that African debt be completely cancelled in return for reduced aid, abolition of the two-track salary system of technical assistance, and international guarantees for African regimes that meet basic standards of democracy and human rights sparked much interest and a lively discussion.