Nairobi, June 8 -- President William Ruto's ambition to make Kenya the "Singapore of Africa" has dominated development discourse, but history suggests that replicating Singapore's model is far harder than policymakers assume.

Dr Christie Agawa's research shows the rapid rise of Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan cannot be separated from Cold War geopolitics. Their transformation was not just superior policy or governance. It was also strategic backing from Western powers who needed capitalist success stories against Soviet influence.

West Germany received massive grants and debt relief in the 1950s. South Korea industrialised through state-backed chaebols (large, family-owned industrial conglomerates ) that became global...