Chapter forthcoming in: Adeshina Afolayan, Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso and Toyin Falola (eds.), Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa. Palgrave MacMillan, expected 2018. 1 Buy the Future Charismatic Pentecostalism and African Liberation in a Neoliberal World 1 Marleen de Witte, University of Amsterdam Introduction Since the mid-1980s the idealistic hopes and dreams that had accompanied independence in most African countries began to fade in the face of deepening economic crises. This intensified in the 1990s as the pace of neo-liberal reform was stepped up. International money lenders imposed structural adjustment programmes in the expectation that deregulation of markets would stimulate economic growth and privatization would attract flows of private investment (Ferguson 2006: 10). African states became increasingly impotent, no longer able to provide the social services citizens had come to expect, most notably in the areas of health, education, and guaranteed employment for tertiary school graduates. As a result, citizens began questioning the legitimacy of the state. Meanwhile, the promise of economic revival proved an illusion and structural adjustment resulted in increasing inequality and a mounting tension between inclusion and exclusion as the criteria for successful participation in the globalized market economy became ever more uncertain and subject to speculation (Weiss 2004: 8-9; Comaroff and Comaroff 2000). In this context, religious formulations of the future appear to be very attractive and have a stƌoŶg iŵpaĐt oŶ ŵaŶLJ AfƌiĐaŶs hopes foƌ the futuƌe. IŶ many African countries the voices that are most powerfully and successfully formulating visions of the future are religious voices, and especially charismatic-Pentecostal ones. Concurring with the mounting pace of neo-liberal reform, and in many ways entangled with it (Comaroff 2009; Meyer 2007; Lanz and Oosterbaan 2016), the rise of African charismatic-Pentecostal churches since the 1980s alerts us to the close link between political- economic shifts and religious renewal, and in particular between charismatic Pentecostalism and the neo-liďeƌal ŵaƌket iŶ futuƌes. This chapter provides a case study from Ghana that invites reflection on the intersections between charismatic Pentecostalism, global neoliberalism, and African liberation and progress. IŶ GhaŶas liďeƌalized puďliĐ spheƌe ǁith its ŵaŶLJ ĐoŵpetiŶg ǀeƌsioŶs of ŵodeƌŶitLJ, the public figures that are most successful in attracting large numbers of people to a powerful image of the future are charismatic preachers. Their narratives of God-endorsed imminent wealth circulate