Ambassador Herman J. “Hank” Cohen decided early in his 38-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service to specialize in African affairs. He made that decision in the late 1950s when the majority of the African nations were transitioning from European colonial rule to sovereign independence. His service in five U.S. embassies in Africa and his appointment by President George H. W. Bush as Assistant Secretary of State gave him unique opportunities to engage in private conversations with African heads of state. Many considered him to be not only an official representative of the United States government but a trusted informal counselor to them as well.

These conversations offer a colorful and penetrating look at African cultural norms and imperatives at the core of African political and economic performance over the past half-century. Despite billions of dollars of international development assistance poured into Africa since 1955, and despite huge earnings from commodity sales, Africa has lagged far behind most other emerging regions in economic growth and poverty reduction. Through these conversations, Cohen provides an opportunity to the African leaders he knew to tell us personally why the initial enthusiasm that accompanied independence went so badly awry.

A new third generation of African leadership is now coming to the fore. The key question is, can they and the international donor community learn from and overcome the negative legacies of their predecessors?