George Ayittey Explained

George Ayittey
Nationality:Ghanaian
Institution:American University
Field:Political economics
Alma Mater:University of Manitoba
University of Western Ontario
University of Ghana

George B. N. Ayittey (13 October 1945 – 28 January 2022) was a Ghanaian economist and author. He was president of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington, D.C., a professor at American University,[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ayittey . George Billy Nii . George Ayittey . Distinguished Economist in Residence . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20020129105445id_/http://www.american.edu:80/cas/econ/faculty/ayittey.htm . 29 January 2002 . 17 October 2005 . American University.
  2. Web site: Ayittey . George Billy Nii . George Ayittey . July 2014 . Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) at University of Manitoba . 4 April 2019 . LinkedIn.
  3. Web site: Ayittey . George Billy Nii . George Ayittey . 15 April 2022 . In Memoriam (1945 – 2022) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220416121453/https://www.africanliberty.org/2022/04/15/george-b-n-ayittey-1945-2022/ . 16 April 2022 . 31 July 2024 . African Liberty . en-US.
  4. Web site: Ayittey . George Billy Nii . George Ayittey . Senior Fellow . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190711031222/https://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=766 . 11 July 2019 . 31 July 2024 . Independent Institute.
  5. News: 11 April 2022 . Famous Ghanaian Economist and author, George Ayittey dead . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220411063126/https://africans-in-america.com/2022/04/11/famous-ghanaian-economist-and-author-george-ayittey-dead/ . 11 April 2022 . 31 July 2024 . Africans in America: Telling the story of African immigrants living in the Americas . en-US . MyNewsGh.com.
  6. News: 8 April 2022 . Famous US-based Ghanaian Author, Economist, George Ayittey dead . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220408195601/https://www.mynewsgh.com/famous-us-based-ghanaian-author-economist-george-ayittey-dead/ . 8 April 2022 . 8 April 2022 . MyNewsGh.com . en-US.
  7. News: 31 May 2024 . George Ayittey Society Announces Second Official Meeting . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240731102519/https://www.atlasnetwork.org/articles/george-ayittey-society-second-meeting . 31 July 2024 . 31 July 2024 . Atlas Network . en . Professor George B. N. Ayittey was born on October 13, 1945, in Ghana. He graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Ghana, earned his MA at the University of Western Ontario, and completed his doctorate in economics at the University of Manitoba. He taught in Canada and the United States and retired as professor of economics from the American University in Washington, D.C..
  8. Web site: Bio at Foreign Policy Research Institute . 31 January 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100407195017/http://www.fpri.org/about/people/ayittey.html . 7 April 2010 . dead .
  9. Web site: BBC World Service | the Forum.
  10. Web site: Free Africa Foundation. www.freeafrica.org. en. 17 October 2017.
  11. May 2008 . Top 100 Public Intellectuals . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091001064857/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4314 . 1 October 2009 . 20 August 2009 . Foreign Policy.
  12. Web site: mariam . al . Ayittey's War on African Dictators . Online article . huffingpost . 28 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110903172333/http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/2011/06/12/george_ayitteys_war_on_african_dictatorships . 3 September 2011 .
  13. Web site: How to defeat Africa's dictators (Video) .
  14. Web site: Attah . Haruna . 19 October 2000 . Winning Election 2000 Opposition must unite - George Ayittey . 2023-07-23 . Ghana Web.
  15. Web site: 6 February 1998 . Finding flagbearers . 2023-07-23 . Africa Confidential .
  16. Web site: In Memory of Prof. George B. N. Ayittey . 2022-04-11 . Ever Loved . 2022-04-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220412023025/https://everloved.com/life-of/george-ayittey/funeral/ . dead .
  17. Web site: The Mencken Awards: 1982–1996.
  18. News: Harding . Jeremy . Jeremy Harding . 8 March 1998 . Scapegoating History . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20081209174401id_/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/08/reviews/980308.08hardint.html . 9 December 2008 . 17 October 2005 . . 0362-4331.
  19. Book: Ayittey, George Billy Nii . George Ayittey . Africa in Chaos . 11 February 1999 . St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-21787-7 |edition=1st |location=New York City |page=xiv |language=en |quote=During my tenure at American University, I have been fortunate to receive critical reviews and encouragement from Professors[…].}} and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.[8]

    He championed the argument that "Africa is poor because she is not free," that the primary cause of African poverty is less a result of the oppression and mismanagement by colonial powers, but rather a result of modern oppressive native autocrats and socialist central planning policies.[9] He also went beyond criticism of the status quo to advocate for specific ways to address the abuses of the past and present; specifically he called for democratic government, debt reexamination, modernized infrastructure, free market economics, and free trade to promote development.

    Early life and education

    Ayittey attended Adisadel College in Cape Coast, Ghana for his secondary education. He obtained a B.Sc. in economics from the University of Ghana, in Legon, Ghana, a M.A. from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, and a Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

    Career

    Ayittey taught at Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebraska and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

    In 1988 and 1989, he held a National Fellowship at the Hoover Institution, and then joined The Heritage Foundation as a Bradley Resident Scholar. Ayittey served on the advisory board of Students for Liberty and also worked closely with the Atlas Network.

    In 1993, he founded The Free Africa Foundation in 1993 to serve as a catalyst for reform in Africa.[10] In 2008, Ayittey was listed by Foreign Policy as one of the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" who "are shaping the tenor of our time."[11]

    Political views

    Ayittey believed there are three keys to successfully rescuing Africa from oppressive despotism:

    • First, he advocated forming coalitions consisting of small groups of "elders" who have no political ties and monitor the activities of the various opposition groups. Ayittey explains, "They must be able to reach out to all the opposition groups."[12] "The council should bring all of the opposition into an alliance ", which would prevent dictators from overpowering severely divided competition.
    • Second, people have to gain control of the civil service, security forces, judiciary, electoral commissions, media and central bank from the government. Ayittey saw control of at least one of these resources as central to subverting dictatorial power in African countries. Dictators throughout Africa staff these organizations with their families and cronies.
    • Third, and finally, a nation has to use the correct sequence of reforms to disassemble the institutions. Intellectual reform should be first for freedom of expression and free media. Next, political reform for democratic pluralism. Then, constitutional reform to limit the powers of the executive. Then institutional reform, for an independent judiciary. Lastly, economic reform. Doing economic reform too early, he says, can be undermined by the civil service and might benefit only the leadership class and create oligarchs.[13] Freeing the media first allows local people to support and advocate for reforms.

    Personal life

    George Ayittey's younger sister was the politician Sherry Ayittey.[14] [15]

    Death

    Ayittey died on 28 January 2022, at age 76.[16] and was buried on .

    Published works

    • Indigenous African Institutions, Transnational Publishers, 1991; 2nd ed., 2004
    • The Blueprint for Ghana's Economic Recovery, Africana Publishers, 1997
    • Africa Betrayed, St. Martin's Press, 1992 (Africa Betrayed won the 1992 Mencken Award for Best Book.)[17]
    • Africa in Chaos, St. Martin's Press, 1998.[18]
    • Africa Unchained: the blueprint for development, Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004
    • Defeating Dictators: Fighting Tyrants in Africa and Around the World published September 2011.
    • Applied Economics for Africa, Atlas Network, 2018.

    External links

    .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "George Ayittey".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.