So says Dr. George Ayittey, a professor of economics at American University and founder of the Free Africa Foundation, in an interview on today’s Morning Edition from NPR.

Ayittey argues in part that after the African nations gained independence, they rejected the market system out of hand as a Western innovation, to the detriment of their societies. He calls for a return to indigenous structures of civil society, which embrace markets and free trade.

He also says that we need to distinguish between African governments and African people…a confusion that is simply made all too often.