Honoring a legacy of reform, freedom, and African-led solutions.
The George Ayittey Society (GAS) was established in 2023 as a platform for African think tank leaders and scholars leading the charge for liberal—broadly defined—reforms on the continent. GAS is envisioned to stimulate new and exciting conversations that apply core principles of individual liberty to current issues impacting the peace, prosperity, and mobility of Africans. It is a forum for intellectuals to deliberate ideas and strategies that would strengthen human rights, economic freedom, and government accountability in Africa. GAS membership is not limited to Atlas Network patterns organizations.
We are committed to accommodating a diverse array of perspectives to the conversation on Africa’s prosperity.
The Society’s namesake, Professor George B. N. Ayittey was born on 13 October 1945, in Ghana. He graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Ghana, earned his MA at the University of Western Ontario, and completed his doctorate in economics at the University of Manitoba. He taught in Canada and the United States and retired as professor of economics from the American University in Washington, D.C. He was among the intellectual enemies number one in Africa in the 1990s. Ayittey’s university office was firebombed. He was banned from entering several African countries. His crime was that he believed in an Africa that works; an Africa where politicians would not have to sign away the rights to their people’s natural resources and economic future in exchange for loans that would be eventually stolen by the same leaders and spent on luxuries like expensive cars and private jets. Instead, Ayittey believed in an Africa where Africans could build roads, schools, and hospitals using Africa’s resources. Not an Africa where leaders have to beg Eastern or Western powers for financial support. Ayittey believed in an Africa where foreign aid and loans would not be the substructure of national budgets, but one where leaders can fix corruption and extract the funds that Africa needs from export earnings. These are some of the ideas that inspired the establishment of GAS.
Professor George B. N. Ayittey was born on 13 October 1945, in Ghana. He graduated in economics from the University of Ghana, earned his MA at the University of Western Ontario, and completed his doctorate at the University of Manitoba. He taught in Canada and the U.S., retiring from American University in Washington, D.C.
He was among the most outspoken intellectuals in Africa during the 1990s. His university office was firebombed, and he was banned from several African countries.
Ayittey believed in an Africa driven by its own resources—not reliant on loans or aid—and led by accountable governments.
Africa's cheetahs are a new breed of Africans — young, agile, fast, and not waiting for governments. They take charge of their own future. The hippos are stuck in the old ways — complaining, slow, and dependent on foreign aid."
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