Narratives are essential. Humans are, after all, “helpless story junkies”. Business and economic success depend much more than is commonly acknowledged on getting the narrative right. And if there is a narrative where getting it right or wrong matters hugely, it is the narrative about Africa’s industrial development....
These days when asked where I am from, I usually say Hawai’i. Honolulu. It is the simplest answer and the one that is most rarely followed by that dreaded question – ‘but where are you really from?’ – that regularly comes when I say the United States. It is not so much that I find this question offensive, though I understand why many do. It is more that I find it tiring, requiring longer explanations and clarifications than I usually want to give someone I have just met – someone who has just ki...