A sweeping new survey of modern Africa that goes beyond
the stereotypes
Shines a positive light on Africas potential in the postcolonial
world
An indispensible guide to how money, power, religion and
indigenous development will shape Africas coming generations
'An outstanding, original and provocative work. The breadth of
Season of Rains is extremely impressive. its greatest strength is the way it manages to convey a sense of both continuity and change.
to achieve this in what is a short book is a considerable achievement. 'Dr Daniel Branch, University of Warwick Most of what is written about Africa is framed in terms that have been out of date for years. Too often, it is seen as heading for either disaster or salvation; the realities are more subtle, more complicated than this binary opposition
suggests. The continent has over the last century experienced the fastest population growth in the entire history of our planet. This brings pressures environmental and human, but it also changes the logic of Africas economics. It suggests reasons for hope. Thanks to mobile phones, African retail markets are now becoming integrated; in South
Africa, Nigeria and elsewhere, banking is penetrating society; foreign direct investment is higher than ever before.
And Africa has 80 per cent of the worlds empty agricultural land, which foreigners covet. Yet there is no reason to believe that Africa is heading for political stability. Its so-called 'failed states are actually here to stay. After two centuries when Europeans and Americans thought of Africa as a continent struggling to catch up, it has arrived. It has developed, but in ways no one foresaw.
Season of Rains explains how one billion Africans are changing their continent and changing the world. Stephen Ellis dissects how the postcolonial legacy has been overcome, how Africans are seizing the commercial and political initiative, and why this matters. Africans are reorienting'literally'as they connect to the East. Hundreds of
thousands of Chinese, seeking minerals, oil and more, have settled in Africa; conversely the Chinese city of Guangzhou is home to as many as 100,000 Africans.
In a series of short, pungently written chapters, Ellis surveys the continent today, offering the reader an indispensable guide to how money, power, religion and indigenous development will shape Africas coming generations.
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