LSE African Chair, Thandika Mkandawire delivered the 2013 Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg  lectures at the University of Ghana at Legon from 17th-19th April. The theme of this year’s lectures was Beyond Recovery. The distinguished three-lecture series is held annually to celebrate the memory of three men, James Kwagyir Aggrey,  Alexander G. Fraser, Gordon Guggisberg, Governor of the Gold Coast who made major contributions to Ghana’s education system.

In the first lecture, From Recovery to Development, Professor Mkandawire traced Africa’s attempts at growth and development since the independence era, the attempts at recovery and the road to sustained development.

The focus was on governments and the private sector in the Malawi-born academic’s second lecture, Bringing Social Equality Back In. He urged the adoption of social policies to help in the redistribution of wealth.

In his final lecture, The University and “Catching Up”, the emphasis was on education. Professor Mkandawire encouraged the University of Ghana to lead the way in designing courses that will transform the continent and to collaborate with other African universities. A busy weekend concluded with him receiving an honorary doctorate from the hosts.

A week earlier, Professor Mkandawire was in Tanzania to deliver the Mwalimu Nyerere lecture at the University of Dar Es Salaam. In sharing his reflections on fifty years of African independence, he said that the only route to African development is through countries developing and using its own experts.