Ethnicity, Inequality, and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa by Tade O Okediji

Ethnicity, Inequality, and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa by Tade O Okediji

This book uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore the links between ethnicity, inequality, and economic development in sub‑Saharan Africa.

This book shows how ethnic identity influences all aspects of life in African societies, defining access to political institutions and economic resources, resulting in horizontal or structural inequalities. It demonstrates that ethnicity operates both directly and indirectly through political and economic institutions in which the dynamics of ethnic engagement serve as a basis for resource allocation. Drawing on a blend of micro and macro perspectives, this book assesses the economic, cultural, legal, and sociological connections among ethnicity, inequality, and economic development in sub‑Saharan Africa. Chapters provide a critical framework that grounds ethnic fragmentation as a central agency of underdevelopment and principally focus on three key areas:

• The origins and dynamics of ethnicity in sub‑Saharan Africa
• Socioeconomic inequality in sub‑Saharan Africa and its link to ethnic identity
• The relationship between governance networks and ethnic identity

A distinctive contribution to development literature, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of economics, development studies, geography, anthropology, political science, sociology, and African studies.

"This book interrogates the crucial topic of “Ethnicity” in Africa, a continent where the vicissitudes of colonial division had meant that “identity” connotations have reverberating consequences on the complexities of intergroup relationsIn discussing the topic, the book goes beyond the platitudinous explanations to offer fresh discussions that advances intellectual debate. Indeed, the uniqueness of the book lies as much on the diversity of the themes it covers, as with the quality of the analysis if offers. The contributors provide absorbing analysis and penetrating insights, thus bringing eloquence and clarity to the complexities of diversity in Africa. The collective thinking in the book is at the cutting edge of application, and it stands out from a mass of recent books on the subject. Undeniably, no one who wants to find his or her way through the political and economic minefield of Africa in the next decade would have a better guide, as it is a book from which every academic and practitioner would benefit for its accessible arguments and its succinct overview of current thinking on the subject. This is indeed a fascinating and immensely readable book that comes highly recommended."

Abiodun Alao, Professor of African Studies, King's College London, UK.

"[T]his work takes a fascinating and nuanced approach to how ethnicity interacts with development. Okediji offers groundbreaking insights into how ethnic fragmentation manifests not only in the halls of power but also in the workforce. What makes this work exceptional and an important contribution to economics and African studies is that Okediji does not settle for a singular simple answer. Rather he leans into the complexity of underdevelopment through a rigorous multidisciplinary methodology that approaches the problem from different disciplinary angles. [...] This is an important work for anyone who wants to understand the roots of underdevelopment and the role of ethnicity in African civil society."

Jacob K. Olupona, Professor of African Religious Traditions and African and African American Studies, Harvard University, USA.

"The relationship among identity, inequality, and economic development is central to understanding the challenges faced by sub-Saharan African polities. This edited volume poignantly and intensely demonstrates the crushing effects of the intersection of ethnicity and inequality on economic development, as well as why a critical analysis of this intersection is vital for our understanding of the choices confronting the state, as well as political and civil society, on the continent. Students of African states and societies, particularly in development economics, as well as policymakers, will find this book helpful for their reflections."

Wale Adebanwi, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies and Director, Center for Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Tade O. Okediji is Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies and in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He has published extensively on the effects of ethnic diversity on long‑term economic performance in sub‑Saharan Africa.