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Jeffrey Herbst and Greg Mills Africa's third liberation The new search for prosperity and jobs

Jeffrey Herbst and Greg Mills Africa's third liberation The new search for prosperity and jobs Johannesburg: Penguin Books, 2012. 249 pp., $25.00 (paper) ISBN: 978-0143528883The United Nations Human Development Index Report of 2013 has once again highlighted the predicament of many African countries with respect to winning the battles against poverty and underdevelopment: with the exception of Afghanistan, the top 20 poorest countries in the world are still located in Africa. This is despite the impressive economic growth rates recorded by some African countries since the turn of the 21st century. These growth rates have been so impressive that in its 3 December 2011 edition The Economist expressed regret for having previously labelled Africa a "hopeless continent," a decade ago. Yet Africa's economic growth rates have not translated into jobs for its teeming population, especially its youth. Addressing the gap between impressive economic growth rates and massive unemployment is therefore an imperative for many African countries in the immediate future.In their book, Africa's Third Liberation: The New Search for Prosperity and Jobs, Jeffrey Herbst and Greg Mills argue that the gap between joblessness and economic growth in Africa can be addressed if African countries concentrate on deepening economic liberalization reforms and allowing free market forces to redistribute the benefits of such reforms without government interference. With this approach, the authors maintain, "Africa can show as did East Asia, that in development, nothing is inevitable" (6). In their words, "the long term answer to Africa's development is for leaders to make profound commitment to economic growth as their highest priority by reforming institutions and by making and then adhering to a set of policy choices that encourage private sector expansion" (112). Drawing evidence from Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East, the authors' examples of successful economic growth and job creation policies illustrate how development can be pursued and achieved in countries that have suffered historical, political, economic, and social challenges like those still plaguing some African countries. The problem in Africa, according to Herbst and Mills, relates to economic reforms needed to encourage private sector expansion. The problem is exacerbated by bad governance, cronyism, patronage, and populist politics. In other words, despite the prevalence of neoliberal reform in the past three decades, economic reform in Africa has not gone far enough to ensure that free markets are effectively put in place. Nevertheless, all hope is not lost on the African continent, where liberation from joblessness, poverty, and underdevelopment can still be achieved if the necessary combination of policies is implemented. Economic development should be promoted through "trade, open markets, macroeconomic stability and prudence, fiscal conservatism, and the centrality of entrepreneurs and human capital" (220).Without a doubt, the African predicament poses challenges at the political, economic, and social levels. The unenviable paradox of plenty, illustrated by the presence of poverty amid abundant human and material resources in Africa, requires urgent socioeconomic transformation. …