Podcasts · The Thinking Muslim

The Price of Progress: Economic Realities in Africa with Prof. Abdoulaye Ndiaye

20 Feb 2025 · 1 h 24 min

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Africa is a resource-rich continent with immense potential. When countries within the continent demonstrate good governance and sound economic judgment, they thrive. It is, of course, overly simplistic to discuss Africa as a monolith. Yet some regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, continue to grapple with debt, poverty, and civil conflict. This is why the continent remains the most underdeveloped, leading to a brain drain of its most talented individuals to more prosperous nations. To what extent has the legacy of colonialism, in both its historical and contemporary forms, contributed to these challenges? How do we evaluate its potential, and what about the Muslim population, which numbers around 437 million – almost half of the continent?

To help us untangle and demystify Africa, we are honoured to have on The Thinking Muslim Professor Abdoulaye Ndiaye, an Assistant Professor of Economics at NYU Stern. He has written extensively about his home country, Senegal, and has recently published intriguing article examining Islamic concept of zakat and economic inequalities in the Muslim world within an Islamic understanding.

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You can find Prof. Abdoulaye Ndiaye here:

X: https://x.com/AbdouNdiayeNYU

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