I have heard distressing, yet fascinating, stories from a colleague who has spent time in Africa about how folks in Africa often act like the “Homo Economicus” of our theories, but without the benefit of adequate property rights to keep things on track. One example I found vivid is the routine theft of wire from power lines in order to sell the copper. So I was interested to read Drew Hinshaw's Wall Street Journal article linked above about electricity in Nigeria. I particularly noticed these passages which help make vivid the kinds of problems that can face a poor country trying to get richer:

The quest to turn the lights back on in Nigeria is pitting some of the country’s richest men against rusted power lines, pilfered electricity and grenade-lobbing saboteurs. …

Half of Nigeria’s electricity is stolen or lost on quarter-century-old power lines. Companies have taken on the job of installing electric meters and bringing bills to the hundreds of thousands of Nigerian households that run wires to nearby electrical poles, without paying. …

Nigeria will need to lay fresh pipelines to tap its gas reserves—the world’s eighth largest—to fuel those turbines. One problem: Saboteurs lurking in the swamps keep throwing grenades under what few gas pipelines exist in an attempt to extort protection money from Nigeria’s government. …

When Mr. Elumelu’s staff first walked into the plant last November—they weren’t given access until it was purchased—they discovered technicians weren’t wearing safety goggles or even shoes. Some crawled into the innards of deadly gas turbines wearing flip flops.

Those workers had also lost track of turbine parts, rendering the massive machines unusable. All told, the station produces just 160 megawatts—half the wattage the company assumed when it bought the place.