Straight talk on African elites’ complacency: the case of Kenya

Figuring out how to get things done is a major constraint to African development

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The post on African elites’ lack of ambition elicited a lot of reactions and mail (please use the comments section instead!) The piece deserves a follow up focusing on what is to be done about the problem (I’ll get to it at some point in the near future, I have been working on some ideas). But before that, it’s worth concretizing the diagnosis with an example — in this case Kenya.

This post discusses recent comments regarding Kenyan elites by Doanh Chau, a Vietnamese energy executive. It does this for two reasons. First, the problem of lack of collective elite-level ambition across Africa is real and arguably getting worse. Therefore, it must constantly be called out in the clearest manner possible until the situation improves.

Second, that the comment came from a Vietnamese executive is apt precisely bec…