An African Solution Solving the Crisis of Failed States: George B.N. Ayittey Is a Distinguished Economist at American University and President of the Free Africa Foundation. He Is the Author of Africa Unchained (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2005) and Indigenous African Institutions (Transnational Publishers, 2006) (PERSP6ECTIVES‪)‬

What United States President Barack Obama said in his July 2009 speech in Accra, Ghana, while remarkably accurate, was not new. In fact, his message confirms what some of us have been saying for decades, best summarized in his words as: "Africa's future is up to Africans ... Development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing ... That is the change that can unlock Africa's potential ... a responsibility that can only be met by Africans." Africa's destiny lies in her own hands and the solutions to her myriad problems lie in Africa itself--not inside the corridors of the World Bank or the inner sanctum of the Oval Office or the Kremlin. Moreover, Africa's salvation lies in returning to and building upon its own indigenous institutions and heritage. "African Solutions for African Problems"