"This book interrogates the crucial topic of ‘Ethnicity’ in Africa, a continent where the vicissitudes of colonial division had meant that ‘identity’ connotations have reverberating consequences on the complexities of intergroup relations. In discussing the topic, the book goes beyond the platitudinous explanations to offer fresh discussions that advances intellectual debate. Indeed, the uniqueness of the book lies as much on the diversity of the themes it covers, as with the quality of the analysis it offers. The contributors provide absorbing analysis and penetrating insights, thus bringing eloquence and clarity to the complexities of diversity in Africa. The collective thinking in the book is at the cutting edge of application, and it stands out from a mass of recent books on the subject. Undeniably, no one who wants to find his or her way through the political and economic minefield of Africa in the next decade would have a better guide, as it is a book from which every academic and practitioner would benefit for its accessible arguments and its succinct overview of current thinking on the subject. This is indeed a fascinating and immensely readable book that comes highly recommended."Abiodun Alao, Professor of African Studies, King’s College London, UK"[T]his work takes a fascinating and nuanced approach to how ethnicity interacts with development. Okediji offers groundbreaking insights into how ethnic fragmentation manifests not only in the halls of power but also in the workforce. What makes this work exceptional and an important contribution to economics and African studies is that Okediji does not settle for a singular simple answer. Rather he leans into the complexity of underdevelopment through a rigorous multidisciplinary methodology that approaches the problem from different disciplinary angles. [...] This is an important work for anyone who wants to understand the roots of underdevelopment and the role of ethnicity in African civil society."Jacob K. Olupona, Professor of African Religious Traditions and African and African American Studies, Harvard University, USA"The relationship among identity, inequality, and economic development is central to understanding the challenges faced by sub-Saharan African polities. This edited volume poignantly and intensely demonstrates the crushing effects of the intersection of ethnicity and inequality on economic development, as well as why a critical analysis of this intersection is vital for our understanding of the choices confronting the state, as well as political and civil society, on the continent. Students of African states and societies, particularly in development economics, as well as policymakers, will find this book helpful for their reflections."Wale Adebanwi, Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana Studies and Director, Center for Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania, USA
