Attention Economy


Sunday, February 1, 2015

Development Insights from a Literary Star

The well-known Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie highlights the stark challenges posed by poor infrastructure in developing countries:

Adichie observes:

“I cannot help but wonder how many medical catastrophes have occurred in public hospitals because of “no light,” how much agricultural produce has gone to waste, how many students forced to study in stuffy, hot air have failed exams, how many small businesses have foundered. What greatness have we lost, what brilliance stillborn? I wonder, too, how differently our national character might have been shaped, had we been a nation with children who took light for granted, instead of a nation whose toddlers learn to squeal with pleasure at the infrequent lighting of a bulb.”