Ayittey vs Sachs

Tecola Hagos reviews 'Africa Unchained' and Jeffery Sach's 'The End of poverty' competing visions on how to resolve poverty in Africa.
"...Ayittey’s AFRICA UNCHAINED sharply contrasts with Sachs’s THE END OF POVERTY in terms of style and more importantly in its content. If we start with their book titles, for example, we can see that for the two authors the associated values underlying their respective main thesis are quite different: in the case of Sachs, it is “security”; in the case of Ayittey, “freedom.” Both authors are passionate about their subject matter, the result being that we are blessed in having two books that are highly readable, greatly complementary, informative, and very educational. However, if these books are read separately, without the benefit of the contrasting evaluation of the reader, their impact as separate items may well be drastically diminished. “Sachs’s book is global and panoramic in its scope, short on details, but long on vision. By contrast, Ayittey’s book is focused and limited to one Continent, and combative in its approach and indignant in its disposition. The authors are from different backgrounds too: Sachs is an American, and Ayittey is a Ghanaian. Both are distinguished economists and educators. Even though the two books are profoundly different in content, nevertheless, they are both a testament of great hope for a suffering humanity. Between the two books, I believe, we are served immensely, and our money is well spent...At any rate, Ayittey’s book is an effective antidote to Sachs’s poisonous exaggeration and hyperbole on the virtue of African leaders..."
For a flavor of their contrasting approach listen to or read this discussion regarding the African debt problem on PBS, Ayittey vs Sachs.