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Brookings Institution / Weber State University
Senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution and professor of economics at Weber State University
PROFILE
John Mukum Mbaku
Guest
FROM John Mukum Mbaku
To the Point
Burkina Faso on the Brink The nations of West Africa won independence from colonial powers in recent decades. When the European rulers departed, they did not leave stable institutions behind. Now, West Africa is a region of continuing military coups. A street in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso Photo by Philippe Streicher Burkina Faso is a country of 17 million people, landlocked in West Africa. Yesterday it suffered its ninth military coup since 1960, when it gained independence from France. John Mukum Mbaku is senior fellow with the Africa Grown Initiative at the Brookings Institute and professor of economics at Weber State University. He's a native of the Central African country of Cameroon and travels often to Africa.
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