Questioning the Africa Rising Meme

Before, during and after the US Africa summit one of the most frequently repeated factoids supporting the Africa Rising meme was that 'seven out of ten fastest growing economies are in Africa.' In reality this is both a far less accurate and much less impressive statistic than it sounds, writes African Arguments' Morten Jerven. Ed's note: The word "meme" was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, as an attempt to explain the way cultural information spreads.

InFocus

A farmer with her bean harvest in Rwanda.

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