As an emerging researcher, who identifies as Ghanaian-American, I think it's important to add to the discussion to talk a little bit about how I feel about research [in general] that is done on the continent by mostly non-Black folx.

A thread/ https://twitter.com/joshbudlender/status/1292170843389386761

Growing up, my parents always said that: "Ghanaian people will listen to a white man before they listen to you, a[n educated] Ghanaian.

And that's neocolonialism at work. The relationship b/w West and the continent is layered, which is why this discussion is important.

2/

I haven't read this paper, but I think it goes without saying that two things are definitely at play in development research: 1) how rich folx on the continent allow the West to move on the continent however they want because they presume that more $$$ means more knowledge.

3/

And 2) the fact that rich folx on the continent can exploit the the structural problems within poor communities because elitism.

So, basically the poor become collateral in the name of developing the whole country, but the rich never have to be "subjects" in research.

4/

Now, what I'm saying doesn't apply to every study, but it's worth pointing out this dynamic.

The West colonized Africa and I'd be remiss to say if that mindset has eroded significantly. There are implicit and explicit biases that affect how Africans are seen ..and studied.

5/

Imagine going to a conference centered on a global health in Africa and ~95% of the attendees were white. Or discovering that African economists are not as amplified and celebrated as much as their non-Black colleagues doing [economics] research on the continent.

6/

All I'll say is that these are *some* of the things I first observed when I learned about research centering African people.

And it greatly concerns because at the end of the day., we are real people. Viewing folx as subjects and nothing further is dehumanizing at BEST.

7/7

In the context of the paper I quote tweeted, here is the ethics statement they put out: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o0QibzPHUG1A_cTessYyeVn90429ejAQ/view.

I also want to take this time to highlight some African economists and institutions doing work about the continent (unfortunately I only know of a few):

@belindaarch
@amma_panin
@kfajayi
@lwantchekon
@ImaniAfr
@Ashesi

Feel free to reply with anyone else!

9/7

By the way: this thread is not an endorsement of any viewpoint on the paper itself. This is just a general commentary.

I have some additional thoughts I'd like to add. I think it is worth thinking about why it's completely acceptable for non-Black folx to study Africans, but if the roles were reversed, it would seem ludicrous.

There is something deeper there, and we should talk about it.

11/7

There is an assumption that West is Best, which means that proximity to a "developed" country and Western education automatically means that you know what's best.

Here's the thing, [some] Africans subscribe to this too. Neocolonialism strikes again.

12/7

A genuine question to development [politics, economics, health, etc.] researchers: Has anyone brought up the issue that African researchers are not as prominent as experts in the fields that center Africa a lot?

I just feel like it would come up at some point, right?

13/7