Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 3rd Edition, 3rd Edition

43Africa

My professional introduction to Africa began in 1972 when Mac Hall, MAIN’s chairman and CEO, summoned me to his office. I figured he was going to congratulate me on my recent promotion to chief economist.

I was wrong. He never mentioned the promotion. Instead, he described his adventures as a young engineer traveling up the Congo River in the early 1900s. He was exploring the potential for hydroelectric development.

He had assessed the energy-generating possibilities as huge. “However, we didn’t proceed,” he said. “There wasn’t enough local demand and no way to transport electricity to other parts of the continent in those days. But now . . .” He went on to explain that industries like aluminum required tremendous amounts of energy, ...