The Last King of Africa

In a lunch interview with FT in Central London, this is rock star economist Jeff Sachs' take on Africa and policy replicability:

We move on to talk about a specific project Sachs is currently involved in, Millennium Villages, where his ideas on fertilisers, malarial bed-nets and the like are tried on the ground. My less- than-ecstatic reaction to his reports of their success is clearly the same as that of many aid agencies. It instantly raises his hackles. I suggest there are many examples where success in pilots does not translate into something that can be replicated on a large scale, and that you don't necessarily need to try something to know it won't work. "I'm sorry," he is almost shouting now. "That, I disagree with completely. That's preposterous."

I realise I have exaggerated for effect, and counter that it is equally preposterous to insist they will work. "I know," he says, "but how do you actually do something in life? Do you list all the things that may go wrong and then decide we won't do it, or do you actually try?"

Then I remember a thrilling scene of The Last King of Scotland. Oscar winner Forest Whitaker playing Idi Amin scolded his Scottish private physician, Nicholas Harrigan, in his masterful African accent:

Africa is not a game. It is real

Cool, eh?