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The current chapter, first, finds that although the post-independence growth of African economies has fallen substantially below that of other regions, this comparative evidence is less than uniform across time and countries. Second, it uncovers total factor productivity as the primary culprit underlying the generally dismal growth record. Third, reflecting recent evidence, the paper finds that “policy syndromes” represent a major factor explaining the growth performance, with their absence accounting for nearly a 3 percentage point rise in the annual per capita GDP growth via increases in TFP. Finally, the chapter finds that governance exerts positive direct and indirect impacts on growth; the latter is via the potential ability of governance to achieve a syndrome-free regime.

This concluding chapter lays the groundwork for further work in the field of black fashion studies. It argues that future scholarship will have to grapple with the geopolitics of the United States’ relationship with the burgeoning African fashion industry and how such politics ultimately grow America’s empire. The United States has dominated other African markets—oil, copper, and diamonds—for centuries. Fashion is the new frontier. Some activists are already concerned about labor exploitation now that economists are predicting that “the next Asia is Africa” as multinational companies scurry to find cheap labor. These economic factors are unfolding as celebrities such as R&B singer Beyoncé and first Lady Michelle Obama are popularizing African fashion in the realm of social media.

The editors provide a historic overview of African American entrepreneurship in Chicago. Beginning with the pioneering entrepreneurial exploits of Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable, persons of African descent have long engaged in commercial activities in the Windy City. Early on, during the nineteenth century, most black Chicago businesspersons featured whites as their primary clients. Yet, because the twentieth century featured a simultaneous rise in both the city’s African American population and white antagonism toward blacks, a new breed of black entrepreneur emerged that focused upon serving the needs of a perceived “Black Metropolis.” This ultimately resulted in Chicago’s primacy as a center of black business activity. However, in the early twenty-first century, due to a variety of circumstances, Chicago’s African American business community has diminished.

This chapter provides conclusions and a final assessment. It discusses the reliability of the data, and considers whether or not Tanzania is indeed a success story. It argues that the aid community was complicit in the ruining of the economy in the 1970s; and how, interestingly, the same community changed course in the 1980s and 1990s, and greatly contributed to the country’s resurgence. Is Tanzania a success story? Not quite; it is work in progress.

The problem is set, and the questions are asked. Why did the Tanzania economy collapse in the 1980s? How did it manage to recover? What was the role of international aid in these developments? Is Tanzania, finally, a success story?

What the international organizations—World Bank and IMF—say today (2013) about Tanzania. It is argued in this chapter that this “official story” is biased and incomplete; it seriously lacks a historical perspective.