Can the "Asian recipe" be applied to Africa?

In 2013, journalist Joe Studwell published the book How Asia works, an explanation of how Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan – and, in part, China – had become rich countries. Studwell's book became canonical reading for understanding the “Asian recipe.” An avid reader of the book was Bill Gates, who met with Studwell and asked him what he thought about Africa's development. Studwell told him he knew nothing about that continent. Shortly thereafter, the governments of Ethiopia and Rwanda invited him to meet and ask him questions about how to apply the Asian recipe to their countries. Studwell would end up dedicating the following years of his career to researching Africa's development. A few months ago, he published How Africa works, in which he asks whether African economies can become prosperous countries like Japan or Korea. Studwell’s “Asian recipe” consists of three steps, which were repeated in all developed East Asian economies. First, land reform: land does not belong to landlords or the state, but is redistributed at the family level. Curiously, this policy was implemented in East Asia by anti-communist – but pragmatic – governments with the support of the United States. Second, promotion of manufacturing: the state supports new industries, but on the condition that they are successful in exporting abroad. This is how multinationals like Hyundai, Samsung, or TSMC were born. Finally, in the Asian model, the state has strong control over the financial system, imposing capital controls, and directing investment towards the small-scale agriculture and manufacturing sector. All these steps were taken by strong governments with leadership that had economic development as a strategic objective.In How Africa works, Studwell explains that the main obstacle Africa has had for development has not been political, but demographic. Africa has only now reached the population density that Asia had in the fifties. A low population density generates few markets and demand, expensive labor, and little return on investment in infrastructure. Africa, moreover, suffered a colonial model with little investment and especially extractive. When African countries gained independence, they had almost no experience in politics at a national level.However, Africa, since then, has improved and has several success stories, which in part have applied steps from the Asian recipe. Botswana and Mauritius are the most pioneering examples. The most recent are Ethiopia – its leader, Meles Zenawi, was a scholar of the Asian model – and Rwanda – where the case of Singapore is the example to follow –. All these cases have been successful, in large part, thanks to the fact that their governments opted for “pro-development coalitions” where various ethnic groups agreed to prioritize the economy. Studwell views Africa's future optimistically in general: the agriculture sector is the main driver of growth and successful industrial initiatives are beginning to emerge, largely thanks to the private sector. The author believes that Africa will cease to be the "failed continent" to resemble Asia more, where political decisions will create both success and failure stories.