In this podcast interview, I provide an optimistic take on African governments and their increasing interest to accelerate economic transformation & job creation. I speak to where the challenge of implementation seems to lie & mention some success cases to build on.

So why the label degrowth? It’s sloppy. Growth is not defined as the ‘use of excess energies and resources.’ Describe what one means clearly as otherwise it’s counterproductive.

It is most odd that these economists, some of them great ones, don’t know what growth means. If you read their argument, it is clear they are actually pro-growth. They are just calling for a different type. So why the sloppy headline? theguardian.com/commentisfre…

Spain and Portugal both get over 40% of their electricity from solar and wind— On the Iberian Peninsula, Spain and Portugal have scaled up solar and wind power almost in step. In the chart, you can see the share of electricity coming from solar and wind. Both countries generated over 40% of their electricity from these sources in 2025. That was higher than the European Union average of 30%. The two countries have very similar geographies and share an electricity market. They also have weak connections to the rest of the European electricity grid, forcing them to generate clean power at home rather than rely on imports. Wind power is more prevalent in Portugal, while solar is ahead in Spain. (This Data Insight was written by @_HannahRitchie and @parriagadap.)

France just voted to nationalize ArcerolMittal, once the world’s largest steel producer!

📰What was Bidenomics? My new paper at @pasupdates uses developmental-state literature to reassess the IRA,CHIPSAct, and infrastructure law.I argue these policies were more than derisking: they marked a break with neoliberalism and revealed a no-longer hidden developmental state

OMG! "Continental integration” is becoming the excuse used to justify arrangements that pull in the opposite direction. 🌍Nothing says “supporting African integration” quite like negotiating yet another EPA with a handpicked mini-bloc of 4 island states while Africa is trying to build a single market under #AFCFTA 🙃 From colonial borders to overlapping RECs to bespoke trade deals, fragmentation apparently remains the gift that keeps on giving. Now add separate rules on services, investment, procurement, IP and digital trade with selected countries, creating yet another layer of regulatory patchwork across the continent. #EPA #TradePolicy ec.europa.eu/commission/pres…

As this article implies, the focus needs to be on making lower-income countries high-income, & while there is no silver bullet, we have evidence (yes it's evidence too) of how high-income (and growing middle-income) countries got (or are getting) there. lantpritchett.substack.com/p…

Great article by Stephen Brien. Transformation needs 4 things concurrently: 1. A political settlement where leaders' constituencies can take a hit 2. A political window 3. Visonary leadership 4. Teams ready in advance 'as windows do not wait'. @kopalo hiddenrules.substack.com/p/w…

Lagos contributes 30% of Nigeria's GDP, handles 70% of its maritime cargo and hosts over 2,000 tech startups. On 8 and 9 June, more than 1,000 delegates from the global investment community will converge on the city for Invest in Lagos 3.0. From the Lekki Deep Sea Port to the Blue and Red rail lines, the summit will put Lagos's infrastructure transformation on display for investors looking to turn African potential into global returns. Is Lagos ready to become the definitive business gateway to Africa? Read more and tell us your thoughts: eu1.hubs.ly/H0v-wMy0

Ethiopia🇪🇹's USD 2.8 Billion Koysha Dam Will Add 2,200MW to the Grid. With GERD and Gibe III, Ethiopia Is Becoming Africa's Largest Electricity Exporter. uchumi360.com/r/a/ethiopia-u…

Or as Lant Pritchett and Eric Werker have labeled them: Magicians

“Building African food systems resilience will require stronger regional cooperation, faster industrialization & reliable, affordable energy.” @Agnes_Kalibata @HMDessalegn devex.com/news/regional-coop…?

Yeap, There is a series on American industrialist called "The men who made America " , we need men like that, Dangote can not bear to carry it all

Good morning prof! I think reality is usually more complex than either side wants to admit. A clean & safe Kigali does not automatically mean there are no challenges, just as discussions about governance, human rights, or poverty do not mean that the progress people see & experience every day is not real. Every visitor sees only part of the picture, whether they spend two days, two weeks, or two years in a country. The same applies to critics & supporters alike. Personally, i believe we should be able to acknowledge Rwanda’s achievements while also having honest conversations about the challenges that remain. These two things are not mutually exclusive. The problem starts when people including you insist on seeing only one side of the story. No country is defined solely by its successes or solely by its shortcomings.

The African continent doesn’t need more entrepreneurs. It’s full of them. What it needs is a specific class of entrepreneurs called industrialists: business people who build value-adding firms in export-oriented job creating sectors, not rent capture.

There is an IFIs ( IMF/ WB) propaganda that the public sector is dominating Ethiopia hence SOEs must be privatized & gov't needs to pull itself from the economy etc. When you examine the data, this is totally wrong. It is the private sector that is dominant. 77% of GDP comes from private sector; even if you execlude agriculture, this drops to 65% only. The bulk of employment (94%) is in the private sector. The same is true in credit share. The issue is not the private sector is not dominant, it is dominant but it is unproductive? The real question is Why? My analysis in the previous régime told me that a good part of that had to do with cronyism. This estimate & data is available here👇

The power of governments to drive transformative change, when combined with dynamic private sector, is immense.

Ethiopia: "900 public services digitized; over 30 million digital IDs issued; 3,000 digital firms registered; 4G coverage has expaned eightfold; mobile money users is now at 60 million. The state didn't wait for market signals. It manufactured them." kenyanwallstreet.com/telebir…