'A roadmap that could turn Africa's potential into prosperity.' - President Cyril Ramaphosa What stops Africa, with its abundant natural resources, from capitalising on its boundless potential? Africa analyst Jakkie Cilliers uses 11 scenarios to unpack, in concrete terms, how the continent can ignite a growth revolution that will take millions out of poverty and into employment. Africa urgently needs much more rapid economic growth. Cilliers identifies and models fundamental transitions required in agriculture, education, demographics, manufacturing and governance and shows how these changes can be brought about. The challenges the continent faces - competing in a globalised world, delivering health care and education, feeding growing populations and grappling with climate change - demand far-sighted policies and determined leadership. Cilliers offers achievable solutions based on African realities. Authoritative and engaging, this work offers a roadmap for how Africa can catch up with the rest of the world.

Abdi Ismail Samatar provides a clear and foundational history of Somalia at the dawn of the country's independence when Africa's first democrats appeared. While many African countries were dominated by authoritarian rulers when they entered the postcolonial era—and scholars have assumed this as a standard feature of political leadership on the continent—Somalia had an authentic democratic leadership. Samatar's political biography of Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen breaks the stereotype of brutal African tyranny. Samatar discusses the framing of democracy in Somalia following the years of control by fascist Italy, the formation of democratic organizations during the political struggle, and the establishment of democratic foundations in the new nation. Even though this early state of affairs did not last, these leaders left behind a strong democratic legacy that may provide a model of good governance for the rest of the continent.

An important literary debut from the Vice President of Ghana, a fable-like memoir that offers a shimmering microcosm of post-colonial Africa. 'A much welcome work of immense relevance' Chinua Achebe My First Coup D'Etat chronicles the coming-of-age of John Dramani Mahama in Ghana during the dismal post-independence 'lost decades' of Africa. He was seven years old when rumours of a coup reached his boarding school in Accra. His father, a minister of state, was suddenly missing, then imprisoned for more than a year. My First Coup D'Etat offers a look at the country that has long been considered Africa's success story. This is a one-of-a-kind book: Mahama's is a rare literary voice from a political leader, and his stories work on many levels - as fables, as history, as cultural and political analysis, and, of course, as the memoir of a young man who, unbeknownst to him or anyone else, would grow up to be vice president of his nation. Though non-fiction, these are stories that rise above their specific settings and transport the reader - much like the fiction of Isaac Bashevis Singer and Nadine Gordimer - into a world all their own, one which straddles a time lost and explores the universal human emotions of love, fear, faith, despair, loss, longing, and hope despite all else.

The Afro-Bets Kids explore the cultural diversity and rich history of Africa.

In Out of Africa, author Isak Dinesen takes a wistful and nostalgic look back on her years living in Africa on a Kenyan coffee plantation. Recalling the lives of friends and neighbours—both African and European—Dinesen provides a first-hand perspective of colonial Africa. Through her obvious love of both the landscape and her time in Africa, Dinesen’s meditative writing style deeply reflects the themes of loss as her plantation fails and she returns to Europe. HarperTorch brings great works of non-fiction and the dramatic arts to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperTorch collection to build your digital library.

The case for narrowing the gender gap is well established, and programs seeking to empower women in sub-Saharan Africa have multiplied. Yet a critical piece is missing: a focus on rural girls from zero to ten years old. Discrimination and social norms that penalize girls and women do not start at adolescence, and by the time many rural girls are 10, it is often too late to undo the damage that has already been done. As an African woman leader who has grown up on the African soil, Joyce Banda, Malawi's first female president and Africa's second, has seen firsthand how young rural girls face obstacles in areas that are critical in shaping their future. This book makes the case of how, if African girls are to realize their potential as leaders and change the narrative of their continent, gender interventions should and can be started from day one. For we cannot to leave any girl behind.