I found Professor Nicolas van de Walle’s discussion on the economy and political state to be interesting. I will admit that economics and politics are not my favorite, but I believe that he brought some good information that is worth hearing. I was surprised to hear that within Africa, there are some countries that are growing very rapid in terms of economy. We have a perception that blinds us to the truth and leads us to believe that African countries were and always will be stagnant. With Professor Nicolas van de Walle’s discussion, this perception was proved totally false.

One piece of the discussion that I found to be very interesting was his opinion on when a country should stop receiving aid. He stated that what he believed was any government that was a military government should stop receiving aid. This would be to ensure that the money is not used in ways that will harm the country and that it is used to improve the state of the economy. Another idea he presented was that any country that had the same person in power for 10 years should stop receiving aid. In his opinion, after 10 years, they are not as successful in their leadership. I think these two points are very important. When we think about issues such as genocide and famine, it is good to take a fresh look and see what else can be done. If a leader is kept in power for over 10 years, this fresh look is no longer possible.

Over all, I think this talk consisted of valuable information. I am excited to hear what the future speakers will bring to the table!