For those that know me a little better, you know that few things (except Arsenal) excite me more than applied Economics and business knowledge. I love listening to how things work in the real world, linking theory to real life situations. That is why a part of me is a bit disappointed we really didn’t use the case method to learn stuff in school.

Anyway, this video is an example of the genius of Michael Porter. This is the same guy who gave the world the “Five Forces Model” that is widely used in marketing. I’m hoping to blog about it soon. There is a reason why this guy is the second highest paid academic speaker in the US. The thought process that has gone into making this kind of presentation is impressive. Here is a breakdown of what he is discussing:

He introduces his development theory and makes a case for Private sector led rather than Public sector led development at all levels (doesn’t that sound a bit like the Classical Theory?) He then goes on to talk about how development is dependent on value addition, and makes some interesting remarks about technology. His thoughts on value addition sound a bit like the Comparative and Absolute advantage theories. He then delves into a data analysis of a state in the US, bringing his “theory” part to life using the numbers.

While watching this, compare the data and the thoughts being put forward with the African context. It is interesting to see how true they are, and what they imply for Africa as a continent and individual contries.