Independent Africa explores Africas political economy in the first two full decades of independence through the joint projects of nationbuilding economic development and international relations.Drawing on the political careers of four heads of states Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana Ahmed Skou Tour of Guinea Lopold Sdar Senghor and Julius Kambarage Nyerere of Tanzania Independent Africa engages four major themes what does it mean to construct an African nationstate and what should an African nationstate look like how does one grow a tropical economy emerging from European colonialism how to explore an indigenous model of economic development a third way in the context of a Cold War that had divided the world into two camps and how to leverage internal resources and external opportunities to diversify agricultural economies and industrialize.Combining aspects of history economics and political science Independent Africa examines the important connections between the first generation of African leaders and the shared ideas that informed their endeavors at nationbuilding and worldmaking.