Africa is a country

Examining the historical trends of economic growth in Kenya reveals that our most prosperous decades were the initial one (1963–1973) and the period from 2003 to 2013.

Interestingly, an exactly similar pattern emerges when assessing the economic growth of numerous African nations. They are also characterized by substantial growth rates during the 1960s and the first decade of the new millennium.

Is it mere coincidence? Maybe.

If you were to look at Kenya’s worst decade in terms of economic growth, it points to the 90s. Remarkably, again, the same holds true for nearly every other African country.

Maybe as much as we scrutinize and analyse the internal politics and economic policies of our respective governments on the continent, it seems that the determinants of Africa’s trajectory are predominantly external and structural, surpassing the influence of any single country’s efforts.

Maybe we are all joined at the hip.

Maybe Africa is more of a collective endeavor than a conglomerate of individual nations.

Maybe Africa is indeed a country.