This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Thursday, September 15th, 2016.

I'm Caleb Brown. Is Africa truly a hopeless continent?

Since 2000, many countries in Africa have changed their fortunes.

Marion Toobee editor of Human Progress.org

describes some of the encouraging data

that highlight the reforms of many African countries.

Back in 2000, the economist wrote a very famous article called Africa the Hopeless

continent. And it was quite possibly the worst possible time

to write that because it turns out that the turn of the new millennium was the beginning of very good time for a continent,

for the whole continent.

It is difficult nowadays to talk about Africa as a whole because there are different things happening in different parts of the continent.

Some of them are doing better than others. But overall the continent is

doing much better than anybody expected 16 years ago. Let me give you a few examples. GDP per capita adjusted for

inflation and purchasing power parity has increased by 50% on average amongst

Africans.

That's because African economies, again on average, have been growing at about 5% per year,

which is a lot.

Now, that was is a lot.

Now, that was partly a result of high commodity prices.

Africa exports all of natural resources, but it was also a result of domestic reforms.

And you've mentioned already economic freedom, which indeed has increased since the beginning of the new millennium quite substantially.

The Fraser Institute publishes Economic Freedom of the World Report every year,

...