By. Madi Jobarteh
Introduction
Once again another major country has called Africa’s leaders for a discussion about Africa and her future. Once again, most of the 53 of Africa’s leaders have packed themselves to answer to yet another single leader of another single country! The first question that arises is, if indeed US just like those other countries before it such as Japan, France, Turkey, China, India or Qatar among others were indeed interested in the true interests of Africa, why are they therefore holding these summits outside of Africa and not inside Africa? Secondly, and fundamentally, whose interest is really to be served in these summits? In the run-up to the summit, some voices have called for the inclusion of the civil society so as to make the summit more transparent, accountable and objective. It appears the US has heeded these calls and therefore today, Monday August 4, the first event will open with a ‘Civil Society Forum’. But the US is loudly silent on the nature of this forum as to who is invited and what is the topic. In fact the forum lasts for less than three hours! What is announced though is that Secretary of State John Kerry will address the forum. As we enter this summit it is therefore necessary that voices in Africa are raised to analyze it as part of the general practice of foreign-instigated summits for Africa in trying to understand the various factors that surround such meetings.
Understanding Africa
First, it is necessary to understand Africa. This year 2014 will mark the 57th year of the independence of Ghana as the first so-called Black African country to break off the colonial yoke, and 51 years after the creation of the OAU/AU for the purpose of the total liberation and unification of Africa. Most of the countries that would be attending have already attained 50 years of independence. Africa’s annual trade with the US is $85 billion compared to over $200 billion between America and China. Africa’s combined GDP stands at about 3.7 trillion US dollars compared to more than 15.5 trillion of the US. The World Bank says Africa was the world’s fastest-growing continent at 5.6% a year, and GDP is expected to rise by an average of over 6% a year between 2013 and 2023. With over 600 million mobile phones, statistics indicate that the continent remains the fastest growing mobile market in the world. However today, Africa accounts for only 3% of global trade, while more than half of its people live below the poverty line. While pundits from mainly the IMF, World Bank and UNDP claim that Africa is rising, yet social, economic and governance indicators in any African country points to rising poverty and high cost of living, with a rather frustratingly poor, erratic and expensive social services which are largely unavailable. There exists widespread and blatant corruption as public institutions and processes are inept and inefficient, amidst a more or less routine abuse of rights and freedoms. The increasing urge by the youth of Africa to take to the Sahara and the Mediterranean in order to cross over to Europe is a stark indication of the limited opportunities and hope that Africa’s young feel about their continent. The growing spate of terrorism and political violence in most countries are indicative of the fragility and instability that permeates the African nation-state. These conditions have been further aggravated by the limited capacity of the state, either by design, thanks to the unchanged prevailing colonial systems and structures or by default, thanks to the weak political leadership (that takes advantage of the colonial legacy), and poor human resource, all of which serve to make the state utterly unable to design and implement effective and responsive public policies and management of the resources of their countries. With an unhelpful globalization that is essentially controlled by the stronger governments, institutions and businesses of the countries that organize Africa summits, the continent has therefore been unable to harness its incredible natural resources and human potential for any significant benefit for its people. This is because these foreign governments and business through a web of global institutions and processes exert so much pressure and control over Africa and her resources that the continent has been reduced to a mere producer and exporter of raw materials which it sells at so-called painfully low global market prices that undercut the gains of the continent’s farmers and governments leaving them with no choice but to remain a perpetual debtor to the rest of the world.
Thus it is clear that Africa is going to DC in all already weak position, socially, economically and politically. For this reason, I rate this summit a significant failure for Africa once again because our leaders have failed to do what they should do in the first place.
What should they have done?
First, Africa, just like anyone else must respect itself in order to earn respect from the rest of the world. By respecting herself, Africa must refuse to answer to anyone’s call to meet outside of Africa to address Africa’s situation. If the US is indeed interested in peace and security, and the sustainable development and good governance of Africa, let the US come over to Africa and discuss these issues at home. It provides Africa no respect, and more importantly it does not create a stronger ground for Africa’s leaders to stand up and exchange with the US in DC. One is always stronger and better prepared at home than in a foreign land. Thus strategically Africa’s leaders must insist that summits for Africa take place in Africa in order to empower themselves. One would always remove some element of strength from a partner or adversary if the meeting point were your home. By hosting a meeting in one’s home, you also add up your self-confidence, strength and general comfort to address issues with your guest.
The second strategic decision Africa should have taken but failed to do was to first of all convene an in-house consultative meeting in preparation for the DC meeting if they had to America anyway. If a group is to meet a single person, it is always strategic and empowering that the group consults among themselves first. Such consultation seeks to define the issues, then develop the messages and identify the messengers since all of them will not speak. It will set the objectives and the targets for Africa and to speak with one voice. It is also about setting a Plan B and positioning oneself in such a way that one would not be taken unawares especially given the nature of the host, the United States and Pres. Obama! But by failing to do a pre-summit in-house consultation, Africa’s leaders have already prepared the ground for their own disempowerment and total control by the US. This is even more prevalent given the profile of the various African countries and leaders – while some are well informed and committed to democracy, others are not. Some have bad reputations, while others are in dispute with each other among other intrigues.
It is clear that Africa has most of the weakest countries in the world by virtue of their weak social, economic and political leaderships, systems ad institutions. This also means not only does Africa have the world’s weakest leaders, but also the most pariah leaders who have lost any modicum of respect or credibility in the world. The US has already done its homework on Africa and is well prepared for these leaders. The US knows the strengths and weaknesses of each and every country and leader and has developed enough skills and schemes to handle each and every leader. Thus by failing to insist that the summit takes place in Africa, and further failing to do their homework even before they set foot in DC, Africa’s leaders have therefore prepared themselves for a convenient containment by the US.
The Demands
Now that Africa’s leaders are in DC, what should they ask for? What should the US demand from these leaders? The White House says the summit is intended to,
“…Build on the President’s trip to Africa in the summer of 2013 and it will strengthen ties between the United States and one of the world’s most dynamic and fastest growing regions. Specifically, the August 4-6 Summit will advance the Administration’s focus on trade and investment in Africa and highlight America’s commitment to Africa’s security, its democratic development, and its people. At the same time, it will highlight the depth and breadth of the United States’ commitment to the African continent, advance our shared priorities and enable discussion of concrete ideas to deepen the partnership. At its core, this Summit is about fostering stronger ties between the United States and Africa.”
They say the theme of the summit is “Investing in the Next Generation”.
From an African civil society perspective, America has huge resources and capacity to spur sustainable development and good governance in Africa. For America to do this effectively and responsibly, it is necessary that first and foremost the Obama Administration promote an African foreign policy that respects, in the true sense of the word, the very ideals that gave birth to the United States of America. These are strong beliefs and adherence to the values and practices of human rights and freedoms and democracy. If America sincerely believes that colonialism and the Cold War are history, it must therefore begin to engage African governments and leaders on the basis of human rights and good governance as a sine qua non for the creation of sustainable development, ensuring peace and security and creation of jobs and opportunities for the youth, and democratize the overall socio-cultural landscape of the continent. The democratization of the socio-cultural landscape is rather urgent as it will address core human rights and governance issues such as gender equality, abolition of harmful traditional practices, and removes conservative and feudalistic beliefs and practices that directly undermine human rights and freedoms, entrench tyranny and reinforce discrimination in all its facets.
Can America be that partner for Africa? In its entire history, the US has not demonstrated that yet. Records shown that even where it promoted the creation of Liberia in 1847, the US did not significantly support that country all through, as it proclaimed at the time of the creation of the newly independent state. Also, records have shown that the US supported apartheid South Africa until the last day. Furthermore, the US had planned to poison Patrice Lumumba for seeking the self-determination of Congo in 1961, while Washington was heavily complicit in the overthrow of the democratically elected President Kwame Nkrumah in 1966 for pursuing a vigorous Africa agenda. After the Cold War, the US continues to run a foreign policy strategy in Africa in which it either supports or destroys regimes and rebel forces, not on the basis of the promotion and protection of human rights and the self-interest of Africans, but on the basis of the selfish interests of American big business and its political hegemony in the world.
Africans received Pres. Barrack Obama with the same level of hope and enthusiasm, if not more as Americans had voted for him in 2008. His 2009 statement in the Ghana Parliament that Africa needs strong institutions and not strong men (and women) resonated quite well with the aspirations and passions of the African civil society. But we have since become disappointed in his administration because of its selective pursuit of American interests and justice in Africa at the total disregard of the concerns and issues of the African masses. This concern is becoming more disturbing with the emerging spectre of terrorism in which the African civil society is weary of US involvement, because such involvement it is feared, rightly that it will lead to the further disregard of human rights and development in the pretext of fighting terrorism. The growing incidence of terrorism, which itself is a consequence of the weak leadership and poor governance in Africa, will lead to the substitution of democracy for the much touted ‘national security’ or ‘security of the state’, hence the continued control of Africa.
Therefore in this summit, Africa’s leaders must demand of Obama to pursue a purely human rights-based foreign policy for not only Africa but also for the rest of the world as a means to ensure global security and peace. The US must utilize its leverage and power in the UN and other global institutions and processes to promote a similar policy. This will include that US also removes trade barriers on African products and agricultural produce to have access to US markets, on a competitive basis. The incredibly high subsidies provided to US farmers at the detriment of Africa farmers, and the WTO control over world prices must be reviewed so as to create a level playing field in the agriculture sector. Furthermore, the US must seek to transfer knowledge and technology to African entrepreneurs, scientists, universities and think-tanks for the actual transformation of the continent into a truly knowledge-based developed society.
What Obama must demand of Africa’s leaders?
It is evident that a stable, well-informed and democratic Africa is in the interest of the world including the US. For this reason, the US must also demand of Africa’s leaders to be honest (not that US leaders are necessarily honest themselves), build and respect institutions and processes that are democratic. Africa has vast amount of natural and human resources that must be harnessed for the benefit of Africans, first and foremost. The US must recognize this and support African governments, civil society, universities and think-tanks as well as the private sector to develop workable solutions and tools for the exploitation and distribution of these resources. The US has vast experience and expertise in this area and it must support Africa in this regard in the mutual interest of all. To enhance such support, the US must insist on a governance system that is transparent, accountable and responsive. To achieve such a system, it will require that African countries introduce presidential term limits, ensure access to justice, protect independence of state institutions as well as strengthen, engage and respect the Opposition and civil society. The Obama Administration must also urge African governments to create gender quotas in politics, abolish conservative socio-cultural ideas and systems (through education first), as well as promote and protect unfettered freedoms of speech, association, movement, assembly and worship. With such a system, the ground would be well prepared to address the vexed questions of homosexuality, tribalism and religion among other sectarian issues in a peaceful, progressive and nonviolent manner, as is the case in other civilized nations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one must note that Africa faces dire situations in all sectors. Not only education and healthcare, but other basic social services are also getting more expensive. More seriously, these services are also generally erratic, poor and largely unavailable to most people in most African countries. Despite the abundance of natural resources, more than half of Africa’s one billion people live in poverty. With the growing scarcity of natural resources and a concomitant growing scramble over them worldwide, a weak Africa stands to not only lose out, but it also becomes an expensive liability on itself and the world as these struggles can deteriorate into violence between communities and states (the struggle over the Nile waters in the Horn of Africa is a case in point). A ride through the capitals of each and every African country, one comes face to face with urban poverty, crumbling and weak infrastructure and the youth bulge confronted with unemployment and hopelessness. We must realize that the current Ebola crisis in West Africa (alone for the moment) is primarily a manifestation of the weakness of the African State, just like the growing incidence of illegal migration, armed robberies, drugs and human trafficking, and terrorism. Africa needs stronger and well informed political systems, institutions and leaders, and with accountable and transparent support from the US and other countries and global institutions to enable the continent to reverse the current socio-economic trends which are characterized by high costs of living, increasing unemployment and poverty as well as widespread feelings of hopelessness and voicelessness in the youth and women especially.
The End.