Published: April 26, 2021
Sir Paul Collier has been working in Africa for four decades and is one of the world’s leading voices on the economies of the region. He tells EMEA Finance that, while the pandemic has ravaged the continent, there are clear signs of hope for sustainable economic growth.
"I don’t do optimism or pessimism, I’ve seen the cycles,” said Sir Paul speaking from his home between sips from a coffee mug on a grey Friday in December. “I try to do realism. For the first time, the last few years has seen the emergence of very serious governments [in Sub Saharan Africa].
There are some very fine arrows of change now.”
Sir Paul is a busy man. As well as regularly speaking to policymakers about the best way to support African economies, no doubt in the same measured and thoughtful tone he used when talking to EMEA Finance, he is a prolific writer with nine books bearing his name and articles published in places like the Financial Times as recently as this summer.