For Wantchekon, who once organised student uprisings against dictatorship in Benin, the launch of ASE Zanzibar is more than an academic project—it is a continuation of his lifelong mission to link knowledge, freedom, and development
Unguja. Nearly four decades ago, Leonard Wantchekon escaped from a Beninese prison with little more than a high school diploma and a fierce determination to fight for democracy.
Today, he is a celebrated scholar, the James Madison Professor of Political Economy at Princeton University, and the founder and president of the Africa School of Economics (ASE).
Now, Wantchekon is turning his gaze to Zanzibar, where ASE has set up a new campus in collaboration with the India Institute of Technology (IIT Madras) with ambitions to transform education, research, and entrepreneurship on the island and beyond.
For Wantchekon, who once organised student uprisings against dictatorship in Benin, the launch of ASE Zanzibar is more than an academic project—it is a continuation of his lifelong mission to link knowledge, freedom, and development.
A journey forged in struggle
Born in Benin, Wantchekon excelled in mathematics as a student, but he was equally drawn to politics. By his late teens, he was already a founding member of a pro-democracy student movement. His activism came at a high cost.
In 1985, after organising protests against the military regime, he was arrested and spent 18 months in prison. “Prison became my boarding school,” he recalled in an interview. Surrounded by professors and fellow activists, he immersed himself in study. “I used hardship as an opportunity to learn.”
In 1986, he staged a daring escape from prison and fled into exile. With the help of humanitarian agencies, he found refuge in Côte d’Ivoire before moving to Canada as a political refugee.
Within nine years, the young man who had left Benin with only a secondary school certificate had completed a Master’s degree in Canada (skipping a bachelor’s degree entirely), earned a PhD in economics from Northwestern University political science, and secured a tenure-track professorship faculty position at Yale University.
“It took me nine years to go from a prisoner with a high school degree to a professor at one of the world’s top universities,” he said. Later he would teach at New York University before joining Princeton in 2006.
The birth of the Africa School of Economics (ASE)
While Wantchekon built a distinguished academic career abroad, he never lost sight of Africa’s educational challenges. “We cannot spend our whole lives complaining about colonial legacies or weak universities without building alternatives,” he argues.
In 2014, he founded ASE in his home country of Benin with the vision of creating a world-class African institution that could rival global universities while remaining rooted in the continent’s needs.
Its model mirrors the Paris, Barcelona, and Delhi Schools of Economics, but with a broader mission: to place economics at the centre while bridging into social sciences, engineering, and applied sciences.
ASE has since expanded to multiple campuses across Africa, sending graduates to elite institutions such as Harvard and Princeton, and placing alumni in leading organisations like the IMF, World Bank, and MTN.
Why Zanzibar?
Zanzibar is now the latest frontier in ASE’s expansion. For Wantchekon, the island offers not only a rich cultural heritage but also unique opportunities for research and entrepreneurship.
“From marine science to blue economy initiatives, from cultural heritage to AI-driven innovation, Zanzibar can be a hub where knowledge translates into both policy and business solutions,” he said.
The first step will be the establishment of the Princeton-African School Institute of Economics Research Hub (PASER Hub). Backed by Princeton University, the hub will bring together scholars in economics, marine science, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and agriculture.
The aim is to position Zanzibar as a centre for cutting-edge research with direct links to global academia. “This is about creating research that is relevant, connected, and productive,” Wantchekon noted. “Our scholars will work not in isolation but as part of a continental and global network.”
From research to business
Unlike many universities that stop at producing research papers, ASE wants its Zanzibar hub to feed directly into entrepreneurship and local development.
One flagship idea is the creation of an interactive cultural space in Zanzibars—think a museum but for the AI-world of 2025 and beyond where Zanzibaris and visitors alike can immerse themselves in Zanzibar’s story as a historical nexus of commerce, peoples, and cultures by leveraging frontier advances in business ventures that use data science, artificial intelligence, and historical research.
This experiential immersion would be unique on the island, and would employ local Zanzibaris as well – tourism done right. to showcase Zanzibar’s rich history to the tourism sector.
“We want to take history out of the archives and put it in the marketplace, so it creates jobs and generates income for the community,” Wantchekon explained.
ASE also plans to invest in agribusiness ventures powered by biotechnology, linking research in agriculture to scalable enterprises that can support food security and rural employment.
“In five years, ASE will not just be a School of Economics. It will be a School of Science, Engineering, and Business. Our model is to turn research into jobs and innovation,” he said.
Lessons for Africa’s Youth
For Wantchekon, ASE Zanzibar is not just about higher learning; it is a call to Africa’s youth to blend activism with responsibility, knowledge with action – as Wantchekon has done throughout his entire life.
“You cannot be an activist and a bad student—it doesn’t add up,” he said firmly. “We must be as demanding of ourselves as we are of our governments.”
He believes young Africans should not only protest injustice but also build alternatives—whether cooperatives, local businesses, or schools.
“Winning is not just about seizing political power. Winning is about showing that you can run things better—whether it’s a village council, a high school, a university, or a ministry,” he added.
His own story, he hopes, serves as an example: a prisoner who turned confinement into education, an exile who built a career at the world’s top universities, and now an educator returning home to reshape Africa’s future.
The road ahead
Looking forward, Wantchekon envisions ASE Zanzibar as a bridge between Africa and the world. By combining research excellence with entrepreneurship, he hopes to set a model that other African universities can emulate.
“We want to be part of development not only through policy advice but through creating companies, jobs, and knowledge that matter locally,” he said.
With the first research center at ASE Zanzibar – the Africa Urban Lab – already in operation, and further centers on the blue economy, cultural heritage, and others being added in short order,As the first research hub begins operations, Zanzibar may soon find itself at the heart of a new academic and entrepreneurial movement—one driven by a man who once defied a dictatorship and now seeks to liberate knowledge for Africa’s future.
