GhanaDot.com
By James Shikwati
August 13, 2008
“The majority of Africans today are poorer than those who lived in the Stone Age Era,” Prof. Gregory Clark tore into our presentation. A Sydney based think tank, The Center for Independent Studies (CIS) introduced Africa to leading Australian business people and politicians. In a forum dubbed ‘Where to Africa,’ delegates sought to know why a continent rich in every imaginable mineral, with people full of aspirations is lagging in progress.
CIS President Greg Lindsay included Africa on the agenda of his organization’s annual brainstorming forum popularly referred to as the Consilium as part of a strategy to initiate dialogue between Africa and Australia. The ongoing scramble for Africa’s resources by Europe, U.S.A, China, India, and Turkey among others clearly calls for Africans sobering up and seeking positive ways to make the continent a hub of business.
Comparing African history to that of Europe, one can clearly see the need to initiate continent’s own Age of Enlightenment. Obviously no single individual drove the European enlightenment but historians do point out the fact that the quest to have reason as a primary source and basis for authority created a new order in Europe. According to Prof. Clark, the majority of the English as late as 1813 were in conditions no better than their ancestors in Africa. Europeans in London were … a filthy people who squatted above their own feces, stored in the basement cesspits.
European history is dotted with tribalism, ethnicity, superstition, extreme religious beliefs, repressive kingdoms and wars, but that ought not to be an excuse for Africans to celebrate. The lesson Europe offers however, is that the exploitation of an inquiring mind, a mind that was willing to be rebellious and give reason the power to shape people’s lives is what gave birth to Europe as we know it today.
Africans ought to drive their own age of enlightenment by asking such basic questions as to why a continent rich in minerals is perceived to be poorer than the rest of the World. Why must a rich continent be AID dependent? Why is it that ethnicity in Africa is perceived to be the core to conflicts on the continent? What prevents African leaders from developing a long term vision for their own people? How can we fuse cultural beliefs and legal systems with the larger global systems in order to surface Africa’s predominantly underground economy? Should Africans simply agree with Prof. Clark’s assertions that no real development is taking place in Africa simply because population growth outstrips economic growth and that the quality of labor output in Africa is below standard? (Here I recommend that Africans read pessimistic arguments from Prof. Gregory Clark in his book “A Farewell to Alms” published by Princeton University Press)
Zimbabwe’s Shadow Justice Minister for the MDC (Mutambara faction), David Coltart and Ugandan journalist and Documentary maker, Mr. Andrew Mwenda who were also present emerged as optimists on the future of Africa; the general thread of our argument was that Africa is in transition, whatever the developed countries view as negative is actually positive. The Western investors were reminded to shun a narrow minded approach to Africa; Andrew gave an example where a leading cell phone company MTN could not secure credit from Western financiers simply because they believed that Africa is a continent where nothing good can be achieved. Ten years later, MTN now a leading cell phone company in Uganda, has Western financing institutions literally begging it to take their funds. For David, Zimbabwe has a bright future, investors should not treat Zimbabwe as if it were some static entity; what the international community ought to do is to focus on long term.
To the Western World, the riots that rocked Kenya after the bungled presidential elections was a sign of retrogression – but analyzed critically, it was a positive sign that Africans can no longer let their freedoms to be trampled upon by dictators. In other words, when Africans protest against repressive regimes the Western media perceives the same to be a sign of retrogression. For Kenya, the post election violence pointed out the fact that people in the East African region are interdependent.
Political stupidity in Kenya hurts Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan, Eastern Congo, and even Somalia. In other words, the cost of stupidity in Africa is going up…Kenya no longer belongs to itself – a positive sign on growing regional interdependence that will eventually drive Africa to a one market sphere.
At the Inter Region Economic Network, we host our own version of the Consilium, referred to as the African Resource Bank (ARB). Now in its 6th year, the November 9 – 12, 2008 ARB will give African delegates an opportunity to discuss how to commercialize African resources to raise standards of living on the continent. Africa urgently needs its own age of enlightenment to ensure prosperity for all!
James Shikwati is the Founder President of the Inter Region Economic Network and CEO of The African Executive an online business magazine. Mr. Shikwati was named a 2008 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. james@irenkenya.org