S. economy, both directly and indirectly." Greater qualification on his part and more objectivity would have made for a more impressive article. Article 2

The claim -- that Africa is really a wealthy country -- sound unbelievable. Yet, Zachary brings plenty of evidence to support his point. Like Scott, Zachary's evidence includes figures and facts. Unlike Scott, his argument comes across as more believable since it refrains from crusading too intensely on one side of the issue. Zachary does address the other side of the coin -- that poverty is rampant in Africa. In this way, he takes into account those who may find his argument surprising. Yet, I find his address of this to be too meager: there is only a slight paragraph towards the end that admits that Africa still struggles in certain areas. Given the extent of Africa's reputation of poverty and given the enormous history that it has of these conditions play the quantity of its problems, it seems to me that the few sentences of admission are insufficient. Zachary does state that:

Public health also lags economic growth. So too do gains in human rights and effective government. Finally, a surge in anti-gay attitudes and actions highlight the problem that newfound prosperity can fuel prejudice.

Nonetheless, the fact that huge swathes of the Western world are as heavily occupied as they are in ameliorating Africa's poverty and that documentaries and figures are regularly released indicating intensity of this poverty, denotes that Zachary has to elaborate more on existent problems in order for his counter claim to be believable.

Zachary did well in explaining the 'amazing rise, particularly since for decades, researchers...

Researchers and relevant specialists have all but given up on Africa. Zachary, on the other hand, is optimistic regarding the country's future and attributes their rise to causes such as the advent of mobile telephones; the boom in commodities; improved economic governance and "the return of money and skills from Africans who left their countries during the dog days"; technology and the communications revolution; and the mental impact. The latter has been particularly potent since optimism and self-reliance has generated confidence and huge self-efficacy. These arguments -- particularly reinforced by figures and facts as they are - make sense. Zachary's credentials also stand in his favor.
Zachary concludes by recommending steps for Africa to take in order to retain and maintain its new-found state of security:

Only strong nation-states, committed to fairness, can manage the new tensions brought on by wealth and insure that the old risk-averse agenda of African development -- obsessing over preventing further slippage into poverty rather than nakedly pursuing legitimate achievable gains -- becomes an artifact of history.

I found this article to be more persuasive and credible than that of Scott's.

Sources

Scott, RE (November 17, 2003) the high price of 'free' trade Economic Policy Institute.

http://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_bp147/

Zachary, GP. (Feb 25-2012). Africa's Amazing Rise and What it Can Teach the World. The Atlantic.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/02/africas-amazing-rise-and-what-it-can-teach-the-world/253587/